I have an intel core2duo e6300 running in this machine, and it's flawless. Im running 2 different IM apps, firefox, i tunes, lime wire and counter strike, and this thinkg doesn't take a hit. e6300 is a great budget buy. I've never used an AMD x2, so i cna't comment on that, but it's pretty much out dated now. Go with a C2D, you wont be disapointed. Oh, and i haven't tried video editing yet, i don't have my tuner or my adobe video editor installed yet.