Processor Upgrade Input Needed

[clownpRon]

So right now I have an 6400+ X2 BE @3.2Ghz. Would it be worth upgrading to a Phenom II X4 820 @2.8Ghz? Newegg has an OEM for $100. Plus my M2N-E mobo supports it after a bios upgrade which would save me a lot of money. But would the performance increase be noticeable in my day to day tasks?

I use the following almost daily.

-Convertxtodvd
-Adobe Photoshop CS5
-WinRAR
-And play various games, mainly Bad Company 2 and Valve games. Soon to be Two Worlds 2.

All of which I believe support multi threading. So would that processor make an impact or should I just hold off for now until I can afford to upgrade everything.

System Specs:
8800 GTS 512mb (G92)
AMD 6400+ X2 BE @3.2Ghz
4x1gb DDR2 800 5-5-5-15
Asus M2N-E Motherboard
Thermaltake Toughpower 750 W (W0116RU)

[allikat]

Yes, they would see a difference, it is a propus core, and multi locked... so it's not the best choice. But you're going to have troubles, you'll need to mess around with the BIOS according to Asus (http://www.asus.com/product.aspx?P_ID=NFlvt10av3F7ayQ9&templete=2).
The Propus core is a LOT faster than the old Athlon64, enough to cover the 400MHz stock speed drop, but you would be better off with a Deneb cored PhenomII. However, I'd suggest replacing that board with a better board, AMD 770/790/870/890 chipset.

[clownpRon]

Alright, I guess I'll just wait for taxes. How are AMD's 6core's stacking up?

[allikat]

It's a good chip, it's like a 6 core PhenomII. It's brilliant for multi-threaded apps, but Intel is still faster overall.
Since you don't seem to be overclocking, I'd suggest you go for any fast PhenomII quad or hex on a new board, and don't worry about not getting a Black Edition. The 9xx deneb cored chips are the best quads and the Thubans 6 core chips are the same spec as the denebs so each core will be just as fast.

If you go grab yourself an AM2+ board, like the Gigabyte MA790x (ok, pretty heavy duty solution for your needs, but still...) you can keep your memory.
OR: You could sell your board/memory and current chip and go for a whole platform update, good DDR3 is pretty cheap right now. Just make sure you get a board with plenty of power phases (4+1 phase is normal, and not enough for 6 cores). You want something that boasts of 6 or more power phases to run a 6 core well. Usually these are seen as overclocker's boards, but you really do need solid power circuits to run Thuban well, and it's recommended for the quad phenoms as well.