I'm running an anthlon 64 x2 4800+ 2.5 ghz and 4 gigs ram I've got no complaints, my weak link is my vid card. a $100 geforce 8500. for basic actions like web surfing, word processing light photoshop, burning dvds torrenting and stuff it is just fine. it also has no problems running older games at full settings and some newer games at medium settings. if I updated my graphics card I'm sure I wouldn't have any problems running anything current. If you aren't making a monster gaming rig, I see no reason to go overboard.