I originally planned on getting an Intel processor, but I just bought an ASUS M5A97 R2.0 mobo about a week ago, so I'm committed to AMD for the time being. As I got to shopping around for new pc parts, I kept realizing that I needed to upgrade every aspect of my system, and not just the mobo, cpu, and gpu. In order to power all that, I'll need to upgrade from the 350w relic that I'm now using, and I'll need a new case where all the fans work (my chassis fan is kaput), and Windows 8.1, since I'm currently running Vista 32-bit, aaaaand a 120 gb SSD, where I'll just use my current hard drive for storage. About the only think that I can still use is the ram. I have 8gb of Corsair Vengeance 1600mhz ram. 16gb would be ideal, but that's another upgrade that shouldn't have to wait too long. All that stuff kept adding up and, thus, chopping away at the rest of the budget for main components. So, with around $600 to work with, I've opted to go with AMD, and to just spend $35 on a good cooler for my cpu so I can over-clock instead of buying a new one. Still, I know the fx-4100 will be the weakest link in the system, so I plan to get a 6300 or 6350 within the year, unless the new upcoming AMD architecture provides a better option.