Having used both ATI and nVidia cards in my machines over the years, I can truthfully say I've found the nVidia cards to more user friendly.  In fact, I just dropped a new nVidia PCI graphics card in my computer.  I found the nVidia cards to be more stable and the driver update notices I get from nVidia are great.

As for the cpu, if you can get the i7 for a decent price, go for it!  This is the chip I'm dying to have but can't afford it until I get a job.

Hugz from Phoenix, USA

Victoria

Remember, sometimes the dragon wins. Correction: MOST times.