Which CPU for HTPC etc

[somewhatdamaged]

Hi,

I have a fractal design case but looking to change my CPU, board and RAM

My HTPC is mainly used for watching movies using Xbox Media Centre, and it's left on 24/7 for any downloads i am doing. Therefore it needs to have a bit of muscle for unzipping / unraring whilst i am watching a video etc

Is an i5 Quad overboard, i was even looking at the Phenom II X6 but i guess that's well overboard? Its around the same price as the i5 though!

i3 Dual Core not enough?

Thanks

 

[stulid]

Get a AMD hex core 1055T cpu.

comparision of i5 750 vs 1055T http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/147?vs=109 the winrar result is the same but some of the rendering and encoding results are better

 

[Atom]

I would have thought the i3 is plenty..

 

[somewhatdamaged]

Yeah i considered the i3 but its only £100 cheaper than the hexacore once you count in the price of the CPU and the motherboard!