Phenom II X4 965 Black AM3 3.4Ghz 512KB 45NM 125W 4000MHZ

When I purchased this item, I was moving up from an old Phenom x4 9850 Black Edition which would not let me get above 3.2ghz and stay stable. This chip was a great buy for the time and it has suited my needs (Folding, Transcoding, Gaming, Non-Hardware Encryption, etc.) very nicely considering that even in March of 2010, it was seriously outgunned by comparably priced Intel chips. At 4ghz under water, the C3 revision of this chip is a very good performer for the price. If you build low-end systems that are not going to be used in heavily-threaded applications, but still need a bit of brawn for daily use, this chip offers some decent performance and OC flexibility. I was able to get this beast up as high as 4.7ghz at one point, but only 4.5ghz would allow me into windows, and only 4.2ghz would allow me to use my system fully with 90% stability.

USE SERIOUS PERFORMANCE COOLING EQUIPMENT WITH ANY OVERCLOCK!!!

That goes for ANY CPU/GPU/RAM overclocking, and remember: If you cannot afford to lose it, don't OC it, Volt-mod it or otherwise run it out of spec!

All OC talk aside, I think that you may be better suited and futureproofed by selecting something form Intel or perhaps snagging a Phenom II x6. This chip has been good to me and I love it, but I am certain that in two years, I will look on this chip as I did on my Athlon 64 x2's and the Pentium 4's before that. Keeping up with the best hardware is fine and dandy, but for basic needs that do not require a large amount of threads (or cash, for that matter), AMD is a good place to go.