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Should I buy a 32 or sixtyfour bit processor?
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Everything, except for a low end processor, these days, is a 64 bit processor, so my vote is very definitely for a 64 bit processor, but there is still an argument for running 32 bit software on it, until the 64 bit market gets a bit more mature.
A harder decision is Intel or AMD and how many cores. I guess I'm an upgrader, so I'd buy something where I could upgrade the processor after a while. That means I don't have to buy a mega-expensive processor now, provided that I can still upgrade it - to something currently unaffordable - in, say, 18 months time.
Currently I'd go for an Intel Core2Duo system on an Intel-chipset motherboard...there are some areas in which AMD still makes sense, but not as many as there once were. (AMD mobos tend to be cheaper than Intel ones, and some of the AMD processors are close to fire sale prices, so there is certainly an argument for AMD at the 'low price, still pretty decent' end of the market. Still wouldn't buy a Celeron or a Sempron, though. I'd say that you should look at the cheaper dual-core Athlons or the cheaper core 2 duos for real value today. While you could make an argument for buying a Celeron or Sempron today and upgrading in say a year, that doesn't sound like what you want to do.)
It would be good to buy a motherboard which is compatible with Quad parts, but it doesn't yet seem cost-effective to get a quad processor if you don't have heavy-duty requirements.
Also watch out what memory your motherboard supports and how much. 1 G sounds like a reasonable amount today, but I'm guessing for not much longer. Also at the moment DDR3 is excessively expensive, but DDR2 doesn't have much more life as a living standard left in it.
I'd also try to go for an all SATA system - PATA CD/DVDs are still rather more common, but the PATA standard is, very slowly, dying out, so for 'futureproofing' I'd rather have SATA, as it doesn't cost much more.