Few questions

[Ecthelion]

i got 400 bucks and im thinking about upgrading the guts of my pc but unsure if it will be worth it. im not 100% maxing my system now but i feel like im geting there. i could just put a few bucks into mine now i think to pick her back up alittle. but i dunno if i can bring myself to put anymore money into my 775 system

my stuff

Newegg.com - APEX AL-D500EXP 500W ATX12V Power Supply

Newegg.com - G.SKILL 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 (PC3 10666) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model F3-10666CL8D-4GBHK

Newegg.com - GIGABYTE GA-EP43T-UD3L LGA 775 Intel P43 ATX Intel Motherboard

Newegg.com - Intel Core2 Quad Q9400 2.66GHz LGA 775 95W Quad-Core Processor BX80580Q9400

What im looking at

Newegg.com - AMD Phenom II X4 960T Zosma 3.0GHz Socket AM3 95W Quad-Core Desktop Processor HD96ZTWFGRBOX

Newegg.com - GIGABYTE GA-970A-UD3 AM3+ AMD 970 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX AMD Motherboard

Newegg.com - G.SKILL Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model F3-12800CL9D-8GBXL

Newegg.com - OCZ Fatal1ty 550W Modular Gaming Power Supply compatible with Intel Sandybridge Core i3 i5 i7 and AMD Phenom

Newegg.com - COOLER MASTER Hyper 212 Plus RR-B10-212P-G1 "Heatpipe Direct Contact" Long Life Sleeve 120mm CPU Cooler Compatible Intel Core i5 & Intel Core i7

 

[Nukem]

Well... tax time is coming around (if you have to file) why not wait until then, this way you can use the 400.00 plus some to build a whole new system.
sitting tight, you can do the research, and find what you want to get.

but if your like me and can't hold onto money for nothing, then this looks like a decent upgrade!

 

[Ecthelion]

lucky for me ill have the 400 in a few weeks but yeah money burns a hole in my pocket rather fast lol. im just unsure how much faster my system will be. wish i could spend more but i think 400 will be my cap in like 6 months id have more ><

 

[I_Am_Skip]

I'm not sure if the upgrade is really worth it. If you want to get a performance increase maybe consider adding 2-4gb more ram, reinstalling windows on an ssd will give great improvements for effeciency and speed. Overclocking your processor current processor would be good (I recommend adding aftermarket cooling), you will notice nice gains by doing all of this.

In my opinion don't half arse things and if your gonna add something to a pc, it should only be a new gpu, ram or storage capacity. If you feel the need to upgrade your cpu it's probably time for a new pc. And with your current cpu I believe you still have a decent pc.

Components:
[h=1]Corsair Force Series 3 SSD. $169.99
Newegg.com - Corsair Force Series 3 CSSD-F120GB3A-BK 2.5" 120GB SATA III Internal Solid State Drive (SSD)[/h][h=1]G.SKILL NS 2GB 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 (PC3 10666) X2. $25.98[/h]Newegg.com - G.SKILL NS 2GB 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 (PC3 10666) Desktop Memory Model F3-10666CL9S-2GBNS

[h=1]CORSAIR CWCH60 Hydro Series H60 High Performance Liquid CPU Cooler. $74.99[/h]Newegg.com - CORSAIR CWCH60 Hydro Series H60 High Performance Liquid CPU Cooler

The good thing about that liquid cooler is that is requires no maintenance, ever... It shall help you overclock your current cpu to a higher frequency.

TOTAL: $270.96

And the advantage of this is, all these components can be transferred to a new pc easier if you decide to build a newer one in the near future. You may need to purchase windows if you don't have your old copy lying around that you can reuse.

Good luck though!