Intel Processor which 1??

[krzywica]

If your gonna slap down the money for 1156 then get at least an i5 750. Again if your on a budget then go the AMD route. I have almost the same motherbard (I have the Premium), with an i7 860 running @4.1GHz and its a monster of a PC, but thats only because I have other very high end components (Striped SSD's, ATI 5850, ect). I would go AMD and spend the money saved on a nice big SSD, you will see MUCH more performance increase with day to day useage.

 

[its phillip]

I don't recommend cooler master power supplies. A solid 400W unit should be more than enough - look at these: Corsair VX450, Corsair CX400, Seasonic S12II 430B, Seasonic X400, Silverstone ST45SF, Antec NeoECO 400 & the Antec Earthwatts 430D. I wouldn't waste money on a sound card either, and I'd just get a low end ATI 5000 series card for your audio and video needs.

And I highly recommend going AMD if you are on a budget.

 

[jackaninny]

I'd get an I5 760 - tremendous bang for the buck - $200 and it will probably be sufficient for the next 3-4 years for you.

PS. The Intel v. AMD comment from your friend is incorrect at best.

 

[stealthrt]

Personally i would pick up the i5 CPU. If you are able too, go for the i7. That is what i run and its awesome! But from what you posted as using your computer for, i5 will do just fine for you )

If you plan on sticking with XP then your max RAM is going to be 4GB. I would suggest you switch to Windows 7 x64 bit and add a few GB of RAM (8GB?). That will help you out when opening a lot of web browser tabs and outlook, etc running at the same time. It really doesn't matter how fast your CPU is if you max out your RAM!

David