So I have a Microcenter near me and they have a 3770k for 230.  I am currently running a 2500k at 4.5 ghz at 72 degrees IBT temps with a corsair H60.  I could probably sell the chip for 150, but is the 80 dollars worth the upgrade?  I am an avid gamer and I heard HT can make a difference on a few games (crysis 3, battlefield 3).  Let me know what you think.

Very interesting question, and was wondering what SSDs you have, if no SSD you would be better off with upgrading that with the cash.Another question would be what GPU do you currently have and if you are planning to upgrade that as well in a short amount of time. Over all if your mainboard and memory can get the most out of the new 3770K the overall performance improvement would be worth it and keep ya good to go for quite some time.

just a few thoughts to consider

Running 2 670s in SLI, and have 2 120 gb SSDs.  So already run I g well.  I think I am just obsessing with having the best.

I'd go for the 3770k unless to may plan on getting haswell in the future. Might as well future proof yourself now while its cheap than later when Microcenter isn't selling it at that price anymore.

If you could manage to get it for 80 bucks after selling the old chip I would go for it.  That is a reasonable price to pay for the newest and greatest.  the amount of money you would get back is only going to go down after Haswell comes out.