i'm wanting to OC a Q6600 using stock heatsink/fan (for now) but i've never did it before and this seems well... ***** proof.
but would it be safe to do this?

In a word... Yes!

With any oc'ing, there is some risk. That said, I can't imaging you having any problems from going to 3ghz, since the q6600s oc well. Keep an eye on the temps. BTW, I'm pretty sure the mod you have pictured is incorrect. It shouldn't hurt anything, but wouldn't give you the desired result. I believe this is the correct mod.

Hmm, I am running a Q6600 as well and I have never heard of this mod. I was actually able to bump my mobo's FSB to 1333mhz and get the chip to 3ghz but it wasn't too stable. I could do some basic stuff like browse the internet and run some apps but as soon as I entered a more demanding environment, like a benching program, my system froze or restarted. Can this processor run at 1333 without this mod? I would like to know because my temps didn't really change when it ran at 3ghz and it was at least stable for a few hours. I'm not very familiar with overclocking all this newer hardware but I'd be thrilled to have it run stable @ 3ghz!

The mod is helpful if you have a motherboard that (A.) does not have overclocking options (B.) has poor overclocking options/potential.

Some people with systems that are prebuilt, like dell systems, will do the bsel pad mods to overclock since dell locks all usable oc options out of the bios to prevent people from "messing up their systems."

If your cpu can do 3ghz (or more), but you have a crappy board that is making it unstable, a bsel mod may help, but otherwise, it's best to just oc from the bios.

Oh alright, then this doesn't really apply to me I guess. My mobo has pretty much been built around the ability to be overclocked; has some good options. Since the max FSB is 1333mhz and the q6600 is factory set @ 1066mhz it's a bit tempting to see what it can do. I haven't overclocked this newer hardware before so I haven't really gotten into it much. I just figured I'd give it a try and I was pleased to see that the system booted right up at 3ghz. The whole linked/unlinked is confusing to me and I'm not sure it's a good idea to... experiment lol. Thanks for the help, though.

Go for it!