I have a q9550 i am wanting to sell. The prices on Ebay for them are $200ish for just the cpu. A q9650 i imagine will sell for a bit more. Worth it when you can go to Micro Center and pick up a 2500k for 179.
I feel that for the work lapping isn't worth it. Look around at thermal paste. There is some new stuff out that is good. You might be able to gain a few degrees just by changing your thermal paste or how you apply it.
What do you recommend? I have heard Gelid and Arctic Cooling but not much on Zalman. I have used their cpu coolers for years without a hitch but are their vga solutions worthwhile?