So I got to looking...

[Omega]

and I discovered that LGA 775 CPUs (C2D, C2Q) are really cheap right now. Like, a 3.06GHz E7600 chip cost as much now as I paid for my E4500. In fact, less. I remember paying around $230 for my E4500, and I could get an E7600 for $150...

So, do you guys think it's worth it? I won't have the money to drop on an all-new system for a while so buying a new motherboard AND cpu right now is out of the question, especially since I'm looking at buying a new GPU as well sometime soon. But it seems like it would be a nice upgrade over where I'm at now, and it's not too expensive.

Another question too is what kind of effect would swapping out CPUs have on the rest of my system? I assume it should be a non-issue if that's all I'm changing, but who knows, maybe Win7 would bug out.

The chip in question:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115059

[Neodymium]

As long as you have the appropriate drivers for your chipset, you can go as high as your motherboard would support...

Here's a list of the processors that a standard LGA 775 socket will support:
Intel Pentium 4 (2.60 - 3.80 GHz)
Intel Celeron D (2.53 - 3.60 GHz )
Intel Pentium 4 Extreme Edition (3.20 - 3.73 GHz)
Intel Pentium D (2.66 - 3.60 GHz)
Pentium Extreme Edition (3.20 - 3.73 GHz)
Pentium Dual-Core (1.40 - 3.33 GHz)
Intel Core 2 Duo (1.60 - 3.33 GHz)
Intel Core 2 Extreme (2.66 - 3.20 GHz)
Intel Core 2 Quad (2.33 - 3.00 GHz)
Intel Xeon (1.86-3.40 GHz)
Intel Celeron (1.60 - 2.40 GHz)

So, if your board supports it, you can go with any of the CPUs above.

[Fuganater]

You can spend $50 more and get a 2500K. Not worth it in my opinion.

[Neodymium]

I'm with you, Fuganater, if he's got the cash, go for combo deals...if not Intel, go with AMD for money you would spend on a single processor, you could get a AMD board + cpu

[Kayin]

Too true, but sometimes used CPUs are cheaper than a trip to McDonald's, like the pair of hexacores I picked up for $8.60 shipped.

[Omega]

Decided it would be better to just go and build a new system, for a little bit more than I was looking at spending on each individual component to fit in to my current machine, i could upgrade to a new mobo, new cpu, gpu and i decided i'm going to spend a little more and get a new hard drive and some RAM too.

[d_stilgar]

I think I'm ready to part out my old computer. Someone else here asked about the PSU and if you're interested in the CPU, mobo or whatever else I would be willing to do that.

I posted a link to the craigslist ad in the trading post. Let me know if the price is good enough that you are interested.
http://pullman.craigslist.org/sys/2780580754.html

[Neodymium]

Too true, but sometimes used CPUs are cheaper than a trip to McDonald's, like the pair of hexacores I picked up for $8.60 shipped.

Did you find a board for those hexs' or you already had a board, Kayin?