Well you could just oc, then there really is no speed difference from higher cpus. The performance difference to higher cpus (comparing stock speeds) isn't much but it's also an issue of dumping money into an already obsolete system, by multiple generations at that. You'd also have to think of comparing newer cpus that will outperform it for not much more. $20 maybe a little low but in my area even first gen i7 are down to $50 just for the cpu. Actually you can find them on ebay for that price too.