I'm not familiar enough with the new chips, so I thought I'd ask some others here. Provided that I have a MB that can accommodate, is the Intel HD graphics 4000 strong enough to drive a multi-media computer with dual monitors?

I'm looking at this chip. Thought about trying this one, but since this isn't a build for gaming or running programs with a lot of processing needs, I thought It'd be overkill. I'd rather dump that money into extra storage, or a better board that gives me more flexibility down the road for upgrading.

The computer would basically be used in a classroom type setting, with video clips, pictures, and a fair amount of graphics all set in a program like powerpoint; but again, nothing as demanding (graphics wise) as gaming. My first thought is that it'll not just work, but will be quite a bit more than I really need, which is fine.

It is interesting looking at the new chips. The last chip I bought was a I7-940 in the spring of 2009 - and it still won't die after being overclocked in the high 3 low 4 range for most of that time.

 

Should be fine I imagine, I've never had any trouble running a monitor and laptop screen off of a Sandy Bridge i3 2310.

If you are worried about graphics though your build sounds like a good example of where an AMD APU could work. A good Trinity APU would provide a significant boost in graphics capability for a minor downgrade in CPU performance. Sure you'll lose some single threaded performance but almost any current chip is more than overkill for productivity types programs and internet use.

Of course some people have issues with going AMD and I can understand that at the moment.

The market for CPUs right now is actually beginning to look real good. Intel have been hitting it out the park for a while now and even AMD looks like it is getting back on track. Piledriver are great chips for some uses and if they can improve even more on it with Steamroller then we could finally have some competition back in the CPU market.