What is the best upgrade to replace a Core 2 E7200?

[MentalIlness]

The motherboard is a Gigabyte UD3P Socket 775.

This is strictly a backup PC and has been in storage a while, but I want to upgrade the CPU and add some more memory so my son can play games on it. It will have a 9800 GTX, but the games he likes, that I own actually will run on the card. I may upgrade the card, still unsure. My sig says it has a AMD 6870, but some time ago I traded it to my brother for a Ibanez RG550.

I have overclocked the E7200 to 4.0....which is great and I "think" equals a E8400. But would like to upgrade it anyway, what would be the best CPU to replace the E7200 with ? The PC is currently running Windows 7.

Thanks guys...

 

[jji7skyline]

Get the cheapest core2quad you can find, or possible even a Xeon with the LGA771 to LGA775 mod. Then you can overclock to 3.5Ghz or higher and have a pretty sweet low-end rig.

 

[LTC8K6]

http://starmicroinc.net/intel-core-...j073n/?page_context=category&faceted_search=0

 

[MentalIlness]

http://starmicroinc.net/intel-core-...j073n/?page_context=category&faceted_search=0

Wow, thats not bad at all. Consider it purchased.

 

[cbn]

http://starmicroinc.net/intel-core-...j073n/?page_context=category&faceted_search=0

Wow, thats not bad at all. Consider it purchased.

The Xeon LGA 771 equivalent of Q9550 is the E5440 and it starts at $15 shipped on ebay "buy it now" listings.

You would need to do the LGA 771 to LGA 775 mod though.

I detailed my experience in this post:

http://forums.anandtech.com/showpost.php?p=36890787&postcount=39

More info here:

http://www.delidded.com/

http://www.delidded.com/lga-771-775-cpus/ (Resource page comparing LGA 775 Core 2 quad prices to LGA 771 Xeon quad core prices)

http://www.overclock.net/t/1431723/mod-lga775-support-for-lga771-xeon-cpus