For what it's worth, I'd "ditto" SBOSlayer. I work in IT and right now Intel seems to have the newest and best processor technology. I just ordered a new machine this week (TOR and Skyrim won't run on my current machine) and went with an i7. I saw a lot of positive reviews on these and it looks like it will be some time before the next major chipsets come out, so these systems should have some longevity to them. The i5s should do just fine as he notes.
I know it's beyond the scope of your question, but after doing a fair bit of research I concluded the AMD video cards (specifically 6950) were the correct balance of price and power for my needs. According to three estimates on the TOR forums that card should be able to run TOR with everything cranked up.
CJ