He sounds thoughtful and genuinely caring.

Oooooh, I'm in a good mood. >.>
Anyone know if there is a new amd cpu coming out soon, to say rival the i7's?
Considering the level of R&D Intel now implements for Mac development, I think that AMD will be left behind for quite some time.
A motherboard with 1366 socket is the best thing to have for long-term upgrade potential. When Intel releases the i9, it will drop right into the same socket as the current i7's.
Personally, I'm just waiting for the i9 release so I can get a cheap 950 after the price drop. ^.^