Yeah, when I upgraded to Windows 7 I also upgraded my CPU (and RAM, and hard drive, and motherboard, and case... okay it's a new computer with my old DVD-RW and I haven't gotten a game-worthy video card for it yet). I've been using 64-bit AMD processors for a while now, but prior to the OS upgrade I was using a 32-bit operating system so it didn't really matter. Anyway, I was using a dual-core 64-bit AMD Athlon, now I'm using a quad-core 64-bit Athlon II - basically the same as the Phenom II but without L3 cache. For $99 it was hard to pass up.
So, if you haven't been using an AMD CPU lately, that most likely means you'll need to replace your motherboard too. AMD and Intel have diverged a bit since the K6-III days, and they no longer use the same CPU socket. That might also mean you need to upgrade your memory to be compatible, depending on what you have and what motherboard you buy.
You don't mention it, but you'll have to make sure you are running a 64-bit OS: on Linux, *BSD, etc., this is trivial, but with Windows you'll likely have to buy it (which probably also means upgrading to Windows 7; even if you can find a copy of XP 64-bit, I strongly recommend that you run away from it without making eye contact).
Hope that helps, although sadly it sounds like you might not be able to enjoy that new processor immediately. :-(
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So, if you haven't been using an AMD CPU lately, that most likely means you'll need to replace your motherboard too. AMD and Intel have diverged a bit since the K6-III days, and they no longer use the same CPU socket. That might also mean you need to upgrade your memory to be compatible, depending on what you have and what motherboard you buy.
You don't mention it, but you'll have to make sure you are running a 64-bit OS: on Linux, *BSD, etc., this is trivial, but with Windows you'll likely have to buy it (which probably also means upgrading to Windows 7; even if you can find a copy of XP 64-bit, I strongly recommend that you run away from it without making eye contact).
Hope that helps, although sadly it sounds like you might not be able to enjoy that new processor immediately. :-(