Upgrading a ga-m61p-s3......what cpu?

[ARICH5]

i have a gigabyte ga-m61p-s3 motherboard and i want to upgrade the cpu in it. i currently have a athlon x2 5600 windsor in it but i want to get a little faster.

i have a 9600gt video card
160 gig ide wd harddrive
a new antec 430w psu (actuallt not installed yet i got ordered from www.ncix.com)
3 gigs of kingston ram
crt monitor @1024x768

i play mostly fps games like far cry2, most source games, need for speed series, and web brousing.
i want to take this setup into a new lcd monitor at least 20" and windows 7

so in the motherboard cpu support list at giga-byte it says i can install the phenom x4's with the bios upgrade, is this true?

i was looking at the old TH charts from 2008 and comparing them to sept 09 charts and i dont see a huge upgrade in xvid times form my old 5600x2.

i built this computer and others so im pretty knowledgable, just need the advice.

what do you guys think?

 

[ARICH5]

oh and i use windows xp home (non 64bit)

 

[bilbat]

It appears that the only AM3 it supports is the 550, which should comfortably do three and a half to three and three quarter GHz - they are currently just a tad over a hundred dollars at NewEgg:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103680

 

[ARICH5]

hm i see, will i see a huge leap over my athlon x2 5600 though.

 

[ARICH5]

bump

 

[o1die]

You might want to consider a faster video card instead, if your power supply can support it. Black friday is only weeks away, and even newegg has to offer some spectacular deals to compete with regular stores.

 

[bilbat]

Hey, I forgot about that! Lessee - what's on my "gotta have that" list...??!!