CPU Upgrade for the a6500f HP desktop

[MechViper]

Now, I'm going to find it funny to ask this, and sure it may have been asked. After looking at the supported Intel processors (Socket 775) only these are support, yes.

• Socket: 775
• Supports the following processors:
  • Intel Core 2 Duo (Wolfsdale core) E8xxx (65W)
  • Core 2 Duo E6xxx (Conroe core) up to E6850 (65W)
  • Pentium E2xxx series (Conroe core) with Dual Core technology up to E2160 (65W)
  • Core 2 Duo E4xxx (Conroe core) (65W)
  • Celeron 4xx series (Conroe core) up to Celeron 450 (35W)

Now, my processor is a E2220, and apparently the board supports up to a E2160.
Now the question. Does the board, for the a6500f (Foxconn MCP73M01H1) support Intel processors of the Wolfdale series, which are the following:
Core2Duo E7xxx and E8xxx and the Pentium Dual Core which is the E5xxx series. And is there a chance this board could support a Core2Quad. Just tossing the question out there, as I'm hoping to upgrade the CPU sometime down the road.

Thanks.
MechViper

[RoyalSerpent]

Should work with proper BIOS support.  Only way to know for sure is to pop in the CPU, load the Intel driver, and check for proper operation of Speedstep and core voltage.

A modern dual core CPU is fast enough for many tasks, except for video encoding and high-end gaming.  To take full advantage of the latest GPU, you'll need to get the core speed north of 3.4GHz (+3.0GHz for 8XXX line).  Since you cannot overclock an HP board, the only other option is to pay about $150 for the 8XXX CPU and pray that the chip will work with that board.

An HP desktop isn't designed for high-end gaming.  The case lacks proper ventilation.  It's better to build your own gaming PC.  $80 for a MB.  Add $60 for E5200/E7200 CPU (overclocked to +3.4GHz) and $50 for a good case.  A good PSU will run about $30-$50 after rebate.  $50 to $70 will get you a good midrange GPU.  The Radeon 4830 is on sale now for $65 after rebate.  Overclock this GPU to +700MHz and you'll have a decent high-performance GPU.