Hey everyone a little new here but i've had my EVGA 790i Ultra for a while now with a q6600 at 3.2ghz and i've been thinking about buying a i7 (not sure which one yet) and I was wondering if it was even possible with this board?
And if so, what are my options limited to?
I have plenty of power as it's a 750 modular PSU and i'm running 8 gig's of Corsair ram and x2 EVGA GTX 2gb 560 SC'd (900mhz).

If I could upgrade, i'll also be throwing a liquid cooling unit on it too, which unit is the best for my money as i'll be doing some moderate overclocking.
I'm not looking to spend an insane amount of money either, if I could get an i7 that I can OC to at least 4.0ghz with a cooling unit for about $350 or so, i'll be happy.
THANKS! 

It's a completely different architecture. To upgrade, you'll need a mobo, cpu, and ddr3 memory.
If you live near a Microcenter, you should come in fairly close to your budget...

No "i" series processor will work on your motherboard.  Also note that just the wattage of the PSU is irrelevant - cheap generic 750W PSUs for example tend to only be capable of under 500W.  Your CPU definitely is a big bottleneck for most games, especially if you don't run a really large resolution. 
 
This is the CPU I recommend: it's the same thing as the i7 3770k with the exception of a lack of hyperthreading.  However, hyperthreading only harms video game performance and an i7 isn't within your budget anyway.
 
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819116504&Tpk=3570k
 
Memory:  http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820226219
 
And finally, this motherboard.
 
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157297
 
This is about $20 over budget, but its also pretty much the minimum if you want to overclock the CPU, assuming you have an air cooler that works with this socket.  If you don't then forget about overclocking for now.  If you're unwilling to spend over $350, then you can drop down to this CPU.
 
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819116507

I was looking at some i-5's and this one came to light which is the i5-3570k.
If I was getting a new mobo and what not, i'm just going to buy a Sabertooth set up.
And I already have DDR 3 memory on this board as it supports it.
(to the guy posting)
And I have a Sea Sonic X PSU (so cheap PSU? Yeaaahhh right.)

I love my 790i Ultra however as it's provided me with lots of love over the years with zero issues.
And at the time of it's release, it supported some pretty outstanding features that were hard to find at the time.
But alas, my Q6600 that is OC'd to 3.2ghz is what I fear to be causing the most slow down.
I wouldn't say it's a "bottleneck" in the system however, as I can play things like Crysis 2 (DX11), Battlefield 3, Saints Row 3, etc all on max settings at 1920x1080 rez.
With next to no slowdown.

But I know when the new wave of games come out in 2013, it will be time to upgrade by then but I figured that my CPU could easily last past the holiday system with games like Assassins Creed 3, etc.

Haters gonna hate but the fact is...this CPU still holds up pretty strong to some CPU's on the market today...just because it doesn't have an "i" in front of it, doesn't always mean it's inferior.
I was also thinking about doing a little more OC'ing as I have a pretty decent cooling set up right now but I know I can get a little more out of this CPU for the time being.
Anyone know safe settings to get to let's say 3.6 or 3.6?

But thanks for any input as I had heard of people flashing their bios, etc to make older "i" series CPU's work with their 790i Ultra's as they have an "attachment" to the mobo.
For me, it's more of a money issue but if I need to dish out another $450 for a new mobo and cpu, i'd be happy doing it.
But if I could have saved a little money and just bought an older "i" series cpu and oc'd it to about 4.0ghz, i'd be happy with that.
Either way, i'd like to stay in the EVGA brand name as i'm strictly an "intel", "evga" and "nvidia" ONLY person.
But the Sabertooth looks so pretty!!!!!!!! Hahaha

eastcoasteric


Either way, i'd like to stay in the EVGA brand name as i'm strictly an "intel", "evga" and "nvidia" ONLY person.
But the Sabertooth looks so pretty!!!!!!!! Hahaha

Do you want a pretty one that is ok, or a plain Jane that is awesome? Your choice bro!      

Microcenter has this deal, (mobo price is before $50 discount for getting 3570K at the same time, in store):
http://www.microcenter.com/single_product_results.phtml?product_id=0388088
http://www.microcenter.com/single_product_results.phtml?product_id=0388577
$390 beats $450...