I won 16GB of DDR3, and I'll get it at some point, at which time I'll want to use it, which would mean needing a new motherboard. I've also wanted to upgrade my cramped case for a while, so will probably buy a Carbide 200R to house my PC.

I currently have a Phenom II X6 1090T CPU on a Gigabyte MB. At a minimum a new Gigabyte GA-970A-D3 MB will cost me around $115, but I'll probably go for an Asus M5A97 R2.0 for $140, because it has a header for front USB 3.0 and seems to be better featured (the third option I have is Gigabyte GA-990FXA-UD3).

But now comes the twist. I'll basically be left with a full computer sans CPU. I'll have a case, MB, 4GB RAM (probably 6GB, I haven't checked what exactly fried of my 8GB). I can put there a spare 250GB HD, a DVD-R drive (I have both DVD-R and Blu-ray burner in my PC), and a GeForce 9600 or Radeon 5750 (assuming I go back to my Radeon 5850). All I'm missing is a CPU.

Thing is, I don't want a second PC, so I'll want to see it. That's a tough proposition as is, considering it's an AMD based PC, but it's even tougher when there's no CPU and it's getting rather hard to get compatible AMD CPU's. The cheapest I could find was an Athlon II X3 455 for around $105.

An alternate option is to keep the Phenom II X6 in the old PC and buy a new MB/CPU combo, probably Core i5. That would up the price significantly, but if I manage to sell the PC that might offset some of that cost.

All these options make my head spin, and I have no idea what's the best course of action. What are your thoughts?