Nice motherboard, I wish I had picked that one on my first build, instead of some cheap msi board. For you, it looks like you could take the latest AM3 CPU and plop it in there/flash the bios and run around crazy!

(From the research I've done, AM3 CPUs will work in AM2+ sockets, and your motherboard has support for AM2+ CPUs, so it SHOULD work. More research definitely won't hurt.)

Best thing about this upgrade path for right now - you don't have to change any other specs in your system!

edit: just a quickie link to one of the least expensive phenom II CPUs on newegg (for reference) http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16819103650