Just picked up a DQ965GF with a C2D E6320 (1.86 GHz) and want to upgrade it. Suggestions?

@s4in7 - I thought that this motherboard only accepted CPUs with a 1066 FSB and had to be 65nm? The 45nm C2D and C2Q supposedly are not compatible nor are the 1333 FSB. If I can get a Q6700 for under $50, that is probably what I will go with. Thanks.

@logainofhades - thanks, I wasn't even aware that there were Xeon chips that would work. Looking at the two ARK pages, they do look identical. On newer Intel CPUs when there is a workstation chip that is similar to a desktop chip it usually has extra features like virtualiztion or lacks an iGPU. With the X3220, it looks like it is simply a re-badged Q6600. The cheapest used X3220s are around the same price as a Q6700. I guess I'll just stick with the Q-series chips unless a Xeon pops up for way less. Thanks.

EDIT: so after a little more research on the difference between a 775 Xeon and 775 C2Q, the Xeons do lack an instruction set - supplemental SSE3 - that the C2Qs have. Not sure how this affects my HTPC or light gaming needs but since they are the same price, have the same TDP consume the same amount of power, I'll stick with the C2Q 6600 or 6700.

So, ironically, a Q6600 popped up on ebay just this afternoon at $36 w/ free shipping. This morning, the cheapest one was $50. Naturally, I jumped on it and am now the proud owner of a Q6600 PC that I paid less than $120 for (CPU/mobo/2GB RAM combo was $42, Upgrade CPU was $36, PSU was $10). The R7 240 came with a HD 7950 that I paid the equivalent of what the 7950 costs by itself for, but is valued at around $50. The case was an old Dell mini-ATX and the DVD burner and HDD was pulled out of an old PC. I also just added 2x sticks of 1GB 800 MT/s DDR2 for $14.

Link to CPU: http://www.ebay.com/itm/261473730725
Link to extra RAM: http://www.ebay.com/itm/141227381150

I'll probably be tempted to throw the 7950 in it just to see how some of my more demanding games run on it like Far Cry 3, Max Payne 3 and Hitman: Absolution as well as poorly optimized games like LA Noir and GTA IV. I'll keep this updated after the new CPU comes in and do some before and after benchmarks and FPS readings on certain games.

Update: The Q6600 came in a few days ago. I did try it with the R7 240 on a few games and it ran mostly ok except for the poorly optimized LA Noir which was completely unplayable. Even my HD 4000 on my laptop ran that game better. Far Cry 3, Payday 2, Crysis 2 and Saints Row 3 all ran well in 1080p and default settings with the 240. I was even able to crank FC3 and SR3 up to high and still keep it playable. With the 7950 boost, every game I have tried so far runs maxed out in 1080p - and I mean ALL SETTINGS maxed - with framerates never dropping under 30. And that includes LA Noir and GTA IV both of which are possible the worst optimized PC games ever. If a game has an DX11 "ultra" preset, the 7950 boost and Q6600 have no problem giving me at least 30 FPS and up to 60 of pure budget eye candy. This is surprising because it basically kicks my "old" (but much newer) rig's butt. That rig had a $320 3770k, a $240 Sabertooth Z77 motherboard & 2x $200 GTX 660s in SLI. This "new" setup with a $36 Q6600, $30 DQ965GF (+ $12 shipping and it includes the RAM and a C2D CPU) and $200 HD 7950 boost is clearly superior - but that is more due to the single better GPU vs two okay GPUs. I did add 2 more GB of 800 MHz DDR2 and am using a 250 GB Samsung 840 SSD on it but it shows no signs of bottlenecking despite it running on SATA II and PCIe 1.1 x16. I know I am probably losing at least 10 to 15% vs if I had a PCIe 2.0 motherboard but that would probably only translate to a few FPS loss. The games are installed on a 2TB WD Green spinner HDD and the rest of the rig consists of a OCZ ZT 550w PSU, a Hyper 212 Evo cooler and a Zalman Z9+ case; all of which I already had as they were parts used on my 3770k + GTX 660 SLI rig. I guess this proves that the Q6600 and Q6700 are still very relevant in terms of gaming in 1080p with a single monitor with a halfway decent GPU. It also proves that PCIe 1.1 is still relevant as well on mid to high end GPUs. I'm sure that on something like a 290x or 780ti or a dual chip card like a 690 or 7990 the difference between PCIe 1.1 and 2.0 would be much more magnified but even a higher end card like a 7950 boost and maybe even the 7970, 280x and Nvidia's equivalent the GTX 680 and 770 you can still expect excellent results without having to drop hundreds of dollars on a new motherboard. I paid less than $80 for the CPU, motherboard and RAM in this rig and it performs as well as or in many cases better than the $600 total spent on my previous CPU, motherboard and RAM (16GB; 2x 8GB Corsaid Vengeance LP). Of course, there are no warranties on these parts unlike the 5 year warranty Asus has on their Sabertooth Z77 for example but at these prices it is worth the risk. I am running them at stock clocks anyway so the chances of them failing are low. Parts like CPUs, motherboards and RAM almost never fail as long as they are not abused. Looks like from now on I will only be buying used PC parts for my gaming rigs, parts that most elitist who care more about their PC's "status" among their friend's PCs and winning benchmarks would consider obsolete. From where I am sitting - in front of a screen playing Hitman Absolutioin maxed out - these parts are far from obsolete. I was expecting obsolete actually. I was expecting to only be able to play these games in medium or even low settings and in some cases a low resolution even with a 7950 boost. The fact that everything is maxing out and not dropping under 30 FPS is quite impressive in my opinion. Goes to show me that benchmarks should never be used to measure how powerful a certain part it. It also goes to show that many of these games are probably more GPU dependent. I am running them on a 7 year old CPU that is running on its stock clock speed and I can't tell the difference between it and a year and a half old Ivy Bridge CPU that on its own costs 3x more than what I paid for this CPU/mobo/RAM combo. About the only negative I can see so far is that it produces much more heat than the 22nm 3770k which only has a 77w TDP. Being a 65nm part and having a 105w TDP, this shouldn't be a surprise from the Q6600. Hopefully these LGA 775 parts will last me several years before games can no longer be played in low settings and I am forced to upgrade. By then i will probably be picking up a LGA 2011 board and a 6 core CPU combo for under $100.