Hi I would (currently) say Core i3. The SB Core i3 CPUs are so low power that they will easily OC to 4Ghz on air... Core i3 is good target for most games which aren't more than dual-threaded. The hyperthreading will help to reduce FPS glitching. Intel's IPC lead over AMD is increasing year-on-year (as AMD are still using a derivative of their successful K8 architecture). AMD currently need to pull of a bit of miracle with their Bulldozer platform (this/next year) to remain viable in the longer term. Phoronix did an article comparing Sandy Bridge performance vs. previous generations of Intel CPUs. Benchmarking SB under Linux (http://www.phoronix.com/scan.php?page=article&item=intel_corei5_2500k&num=1) I have noted that the SB CPUs do have remarkably low power consumption (http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/sandy-bridge-efficienct-32-nm,2831-7.html). Only a big deal if you want to reduce your carbon footprint or pay for your own electricity... The only price point Intel cannot compete with AMD is the very low end (Athlon II range is very cheap). Bob
