Upgrading

[MrNicholas1029]

I have a Pentium Desktop dual-core E6600 @ 3.06Ghz. It was fast but after about 1 1/2 years which is right now, it is getting very very slow. I have planned to get an upgrade of something like a Core 2 Quad/Extreme because I do a lot of multitasking.
But I found out that they were too slow. The fastest was 3.2 Ghz but it costs too much. Recently I found that there were newer
models of the Pentium Destop Processor, E6700 and E6800. Both of them have most of the specs sames as E6600, the only difference is clock speed. I also searched the price and it was quite reasonable. The problem is, I have Windows 7 Home Premium
OEM Edition and I am sure that CPU change is never a minor hardware change. So,

1 Will Windows 7 lock itself and not let me use? (I don't care about activation issues)
2 Are there better choices? (G41 chipset, will not overclock since I don't want to mess up the BIOS, preferably quad core, >3 Ghz)
3 Does the technology (xxnm) matter in performance and which should I choose?

***Price, TDP, heat generated.. should be about the same because I'm using the original PSU and fan***

 

[rgd1101]

how reasonable? It is not that big of a improvement. To use a quad core, make sure the motherboard supported it.

1)As long as you don't change the motherboard, a simple cpu change is fine.
2)All new setup
3)xxnm smaller usually mean it will run cooler.

***Price, TDP, heat generated.. should be about the same because I'm using the original PSU and fan***
Don't know if you don't give us any spec.

 

[MrNicholas1029]

specs: CPU: Intel Pentium Desktop Dual-core E6600 Processor @3.06Ghz
RAM: 4GB DDR3 PC3-10600
PSU: 300w
MB : Don't know (model: Lenovo A70 SFF 0889R7B)
Graphics Card: Sapphire radeon HD 6670 low-profile
HDD : WD Caviar Blue 500GB (WD5000AAKX)
DVD: DVD-RW

I think the problem is the CPU degrading. Maybe I get an identical one will get some performance improvement,
but, what's the point of getting an identical one? or a slower one? Core 2 Extreme is too expensive even nowadays
Core 2 Quad is simply not fast enough. I have limited money and can't afford a new build,
so I think getting the E6800 is a good choice for the time being. It's a bit faster and mostly 100% new when I buy it.
I can't find any information of my MB other than its chipset, socket, form factor, rear/front i/o, so it may not accept quad cores.
Getting the dual core which is same with the one now i'm using must be compatible. I also checked the specs at intel.com,
and almost everything was the same so i will not have compatibility issues. I'm getting it about two weeks later.
Though, thanks for your answer