Quick techy buying advice please...

[SenseOfTumour]

So, I'm maybe in the market to buy my parents a new PC, and I'm kinda stuck at to which of these two I should go for, I own the first one, but the second one looks better all over, except that I don't really understand the new i3,i5,i7 things in relation to the old quad cores/dual cores.

Maybe someone could have a looky and advise me.

I'm going to just put a 500gb drive in and a basic video card and then I'm all set for a new PC.

I've bought from them before so I know they're safe, just wondering if its all hype and maybe an i3 is actually worse than a quad core? I realise they're both more powerful than I need, but future proofing on the cheap never hurts, and I'd still like the best I can get for the money.

Box 1: (I have this)

http://www.novatech.co.uk/novatech/prods/barebones/Novatech/BB-8304X3.html

Box 2:

http://www.novatech.co.uk/novatech/prods/barebones/Novatech/BB-I3554G.html

It's not gonna be put to any huge power uses, but will end up being used for WOW and the like when I come visit or look after the house when they're on holiday, which is why I'm not just going for some 'one step up from a typewriter' model. Note they've asked me to consider that because it annoys them when I pack up my PC and all the cables to come stay for a week or two, heh.

 

[BonsaiK]

You don't need an i3 or Quad-core to run WoW. My single-core PC does okay with that game. I don't think it matters for what you're using it for.

 

[Sightless Wisdom]

I would go with the first one, unless you plan replacing the CPU in a few years. The reason being it's a full ATX which provides space for a current gen graphics card, and the quad core 2.5GHz CPU should be better than the i3 dual core. Though like I said the chip-set for it wont allow an upgrade to an i5 or i7.

 

[viranimus]

Yeah, more processors typically easier multitasking.

But doesnt the I series take better advantage of FSB clock speeds?

Ehh, its wow... really doesnt take alot to hit 30-45 fps loaded.

 

[SenseOfTumour]

It's not so much 'will it run WOW' I'm running WOW and far far more on Box 1 with a radeon 4830 in it.

More a case of 'what's the best deal', and I gotta admit I missed the point about the case, thanks Sightless.

Thanks to all who've responded so far however.

I do swing towards quad core, because if WOW is on, I'll usually be having IE open in the background, and something playing on winamp, and skype and yahoo messenger open, and maybe some other stuff too.