[Vengance_01]

I find myself just not using my quad. I am general user and gamer. I hardly ever do any encoding, or use any software that can really take advantage of Quad Cores. I am mainly playing Starcraft 2 atm which really favors Dual Cores and clock speed. I was looking at getting a i3 530 and a MSI-P55 GD80 open box board from newegg. I am thinking a i3 530@4.3-4.5GHZ(most seem to hit these speeds) would be better then my PII 940 @ 3.45GHZ?

[scotchguy]

This isn't really an answer to you question, more of a response. I got tired of my PhII 940 as well. I can't say I used it to the max, but I noticed quite the limitations with overclocking (especially for an unlocked cpu). My highest stable was 3.7Ghz in the winter. So, I moved on to an i7 930 and as of a few hours ago I have gotten it up to 4.19Ghz no problem and still have some room to work with.

I would say if you are bored.. do an i5 setup if you can sell your current rig to cover the price. I am planning on selling my old setup (minus my 5850) to a friend and it should cover most of this build. Otherwise if I had the money I would definitely be getting one of the new mini itx gigabyte motherboards and an i3 or i5 to build a nice little Lan box.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...-448-_-Product

For me upgrading most certainly filled that void in my life of boredom. Best of luck with your decision!

[Vengance_01]

It seems the i3 and i5's are not much different. Thus a cheap used i3 should fit the bill nicely.