I don't really need all that computing power, really.... when I
want to run simulations (not very often, at that), I remotely
access the campus supercomputer and let it rip..... 
I do lots of number crunching on Excel, but even then, that's
not a major thing. I can have lots of pages of spreadsheets open at
any one time, but I deal with hundreds of rows..... nowhere near
the order of 450K rows that cassie has to handle.
Probably the most hardcore things I gotta do are photoediting,
and the Sims 3. Really.
That said, I may go for the 2000-series of i3 processors....
they just came out last January, they're faster than the
500-series, and they still cost less than i5 processors.
i feel that when you buy a comp, buy it with the future in
mind.. for now you might be playing sims 3, but who knows which new
game will attract you.
get a i5 processor and more ram! the rest u can safe, if gfx is
not your thing. it will make your regular daily use more
enjoyable..
