New CPU

I'm wondering why you feel the AsRock is so bad. Have you checked out the bios features and are they limited? I have to admit that in my current build I went all out on the mobo that suited all my needs and I'm so happy I did. This did come with a higher price tag but it wasn't crazy expensive. So are you thinking just to live with your current system then save up for the kill new rig? Have you thought about just getting a great CPU cooler like the H70 and you can then bring down the temps and possibly OC just a little the current chip? You will be able to move this cooler to what ever you buy later and it's a banging good cooler? Or go air and look at Thermtake, Noctua, Zalman or the Cooler Master lines.

It looks like the 4450e is a faster processor than the 250.
PassMark - AMD Athlon II X2 4450e - Price performance comparison

PassMark - AMD Athlon II X2 250 - Price performance comparison

and an SSD only speeds up loading. It doesn't magically make your machine work faster, just loads apps faster, you are still limited by the processor you have when you are doing work with the PC.

I will tell you this, an Athlon II X3 450 and 2GB of ram, GT240 512MB DDR3 will play Crysis 2 at high settings @ 1024x768 perfectly.
I built the above machine a week ago for my little nephew and slapped Crysis 2 on there just to see if it can play it, and it did.
Ended up playing on it for 3+ hours. lol.

We just bought a new 23" monitor for his computer and I haven't tried Crysis 2 at 1920x1080, but I think it won't play good at that res with the above hardware.

Crysis 2 is easier on hardware than the original Crysis due to DX9 vs DX10 with Crysis.
I am going to test Crysis 2 since I am downstairs on my nephews PC now.

linnemeyerhere said:

...Have you thought about just getting a great CPU cooler like the H70...

MarcosFabian said:

...I thought about getting this fan when I get a new CPU on mines.
Newegg.com - ZALMAN 9500A-LED 92mm 2 Ball CPU Cooler

Have a good look at the one linnemeyerhere suggested. It's winning most of the head-to-head cooler shootouts these days.

I would recommend the Cooler Master CM 212+