Help choosing a processor

My first computer had an 8086 processor and we booted up dos with a huge 5-1/2” floppy!

You got in late then. I had a few 8-inch floppy disks.

I want a processor that that will take me out 6 – 8 years with little performance loss

Anything you buy today will seem very very old and slow in 8 years.

It is a better idea to purchase a value for money machine with the idea you'll replace it in 3 years, rather than buying a high end machine with the hope it will last 8 years.

You don't need anything superfast for Office and the internet. The Sandy Bridge range are the best current CPUs. If money is no problem, they are the chip to pick at the moment. (The motherboards had an initial technical problem, which has been sorted out).

The best value / performance desktop chips at the moment are,
Intel Core i7-2600
Intel Core i5-2500
AMD Phenom II X6 1100T
Intel Core i5-2400
AMD Phenom II X4 965
Intel Core i3-2100
AMD Phenom II X4 840

I�m a newbie here -- but also an oldie. My first computer had an 8086 processor and we booted up dos with a huge 5-1/2� floppy!

Anyway, I need to buy a new desktop and was wondering if you could recommend a processor.

Most of my computing is business related using Office and the internet. Internet computing capabilities are extremely important as I work from home using DSL.

I�m typing this on a Pentium 4 3.0ghz machine which has a CPU benchmark of 491. That was fast in 2004!

The processors today are ultra fast and I suspect the I-5 and I-7 series processors with CPU benchmarks in the 4,000 to 6,000 range would be overkill. But maybe not and that is the reason for the post.

I want a processor that that will take me out 6 � 8 years with little performance loss. I know that the motherboard bus speeds/chip sets can be important and can mean a longer useful life. Maybe there are other things that I may have overlooked?

I�m semi-retired so cost is a concern. I�ll buy Dell or HP from their outlet store. The I-7 860 machines from both of them are less than $800 and things get cheaper as you go to I-5 and I-3 processors. I�ve heard that there is a problem with Sandy Bridge processors and am hesitant to choose that one... or are they OK and should be considered?

Any suggestions for processors that will take me out 7 -10 years? Am I thinking about all of this properly?

Which version of Win 7 is best for me?

Thanks in advance for your help!

Gael