Gaming Machine OC Variant

Part	Model	Price
CPU	AMD Athlon 64 X2 4000+	85
Motherboard	ASUS M2N-E	115
RAM	2GB Ram Bo DDR2 800	116
Hard Drive	250GB Samsung SP2504C	75
Optical Drive	18x LG H62N SATA	40
Graphics Card	256MB NVIDIA GeForce 8600GT	128
Sound Card	Onboard from motherboard	-
Case	CoolerMaster Elite RC-331	44
Power Supply	430W Coolermaster Extreme Power	46
Cooling	Arctic Cooling Freezer 64 Pro	35
Additional	-	-
Total Cost	-	685 + Postage

This system, despite its low price is a viable ticket to entry level gaming. It features a reasonable sized hard drive (250GB) sufficient for most users, and an 8600GT (capable of pulling reasonable frames for most of today's games I believe). Being an OC variant, the choice of Mainboard and 65nm CPU should be very overclocking friendly for the price.

$750 Intel Core 2 Duo

Part	Model	Price
CPU	Intel Pentium Dual-Core E2160	86
Motherboard	Gigabyte P35-S3L	125
RAM	2GB Ram Bo DDR2 800	116
Hard Drive	250GB Samsung SP2504C	75
Optical Drive	18x LG H62N SATA	40
Graphics Card	256MB NVIDIA GeForce 8600GT	128
Sound Card	Onboard from motherboard	-
Case	CoolerMaster Elite RC-331	44
Power Supply	430W Coolermaster Extreme Power	46
Cooling	Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro	39
Additional	-	-
Total Cost	-	699 + Postage

$1000 AM2

Part	Model	Price
CPU	AMD Athlon 64 X2 4800+	135
Motherboard	MSI K9N Platinum	136
RAM	2GB Ram Bo DDR2 800	116
Hard Drive	320GB W.D. Caviar SE16 3200AAKS	95
Optical Drive	18x LG H62N SATA	40
Graphics Card	256MB NVIDIA GeForce 8600GTS	205
Sound Card	Onboard from motherboard	-
Case	iCute S901-4GA-BB/SS	70
Power Supply	SilverStone Strider ST56F 560W	112
Cooling	Arctic Cooling Freezer 64 Pro	35
Additional	-	-
Total Cost	-	946 + Postage

$1000 Intel Core 2 Duo

Part	Model	Price
CPU	Intel Core 2 Duo E4400	137
Motherboard	abit IP35-E	147
RAM	2GB Ram Bo DDR2 800	116
Hard Drive	250GB Samsung SP2504C	75
Optical Drive	18x LG H62N SATA	40
Graphics Card	256MB NVIDIA GeForce 8600GTS	205
Sound Card	Onboard from motherboard	-
Case	iCute S901-4GA-BB/SS	70
Power Supply	SilverStone Strider ST56F 560W	112
Cooling	Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro	39
Additional	-	-
Total Cost	-	941 + Postage

At a touch under $1000 the Intel Core 2 Duo system is quite impressive. The RAM, CPU and Board will allow for some nice overclocking, whilst the 8600GTS is a decent card. For $1000, this system would be very quick and well suited for games.

$1250 AM2

Part	Model	Price
CPU	AMD Athlon 64 X2 4800+	135
Motherboard	Gigabyte M59SLI-S4	162
RAM	2GB A-DATA DDR2 800	134
Hard Drive	320GB W.D. Caviar SE16 3200AAKS	95
Optical Drive	18x LG H62N SATA	40
Graphics Card	320MB NVIDIA GeForce 8800GTS	363
Sound Card	Onboard from motherboard	-
Case	iCute S901-4GA-BB/SS	70
Power Supply	SilverStone Strider ST56F 560W	112
Cooling	SunBeamTech Tuniq Tower 120	69
Additional	-	-
Total Cost	-	1180 + Postage

$1250 Intel Core 2 Duo

Part	Model	Price
CPU	Intel Core 2 Duo E4500	169
Motherboard	abit IP35-E	147
RAM	2GB A-DATA DDR2 800	134
Hard Drive	320GB W.D. Caviar SE16 3200AAKS	95
Optical Drive	18x LG H62N SATA	40
Graphics Card	320MB NVIDIA GeForce 8800GTS	363
Sound Card	Onboard from motherboard	-
Case	iCute S901-4GA-BB/SS	70
Power Supply	560W SilverStone Strider ST56F	112
Cooling	SunBeamTech Tuniq Tower 120	69
Additional	-	-
Total Cost	-	1199 + Postage

$750 AMD

Part	Model	Price
CPU	AMD Athlon 64 X2 4000+	85
Motherboard	abit AN52	86
RAM	2GB Corsair Value Select DDR2 667	107
Hard Drive	250GB Samsung SP2504C	73
Optical Drive	18x Pioneer DVR-212D SATA	46
Graphics Card	[http://www.nvidia.com/page/geforce8.html 256MB NVIDIA GeForce 8600GTS]	210
Sound Card	Onboard from motherboard	-
Case	Cooler Master Centurion 5 CAC-T05 w/430W PSU	107
Power Supply	Included with case	-
Cooling	-	-
Additional	-	-
Total Cost	-	712 + Postage

This system, despite its low price is a viable ticket to entry level gaming. It features a reasonable sized hard drive (250GB) sufficient for most users, and a decent video card, which will be plenty quick enough for most games.

$750 Intel

Part	Model	Price
CPU	Intel Pentium Dual Core E2160	105
Motherboard	abit IB9	115
RAM	2GB Corsair Value Select DDR2 667	107
Hard Drive	250GB Samsung SP2504C	73
Optical Drive	18x Pioneer DVR-212D SATA	46
Graphics Card	256MB NVIDIA GeForce 8600GT	128
Sound Card	Onboard from motherboard	-
Case	Cooler Master Centurion 5 CAC-T05 w/430W PSU	107
Power Supply	Included with case	-
Cooling	-	-
Additional	-	-
Total Cost	-	681 + Postage

$1000 AMD

Part	Model	Price
CPU	AMD Athlon 64 X2 4400+	109
Motherboard	abit AN52	86
RAM	2GB Corsair Value Select DDR2 667	107
Hard Drive	250GB Samsung SP2504C	73
Optical Drive	18x Pioneer DVR-212D SATA	46
Graphics Card	320MB NVIDIA GeForce 8800GTS	363
Sound Card	Onboard from motherboard	-
Case	Cooler Master Centurion 5 CAC-T05	67
Power Supply	SilverStone Strider ST56F 560W	112
Cooling	-	-
Additional	-	-
Total Cost	-	963 + Postage

For under $1000 this machine is a bargain beast.

$1000 Intel

Part	Model	Price
CPU	Intel Core 2 Duo E6550	205
Motherboard	Gigabyte P35-S3L	125
RAM	2GB Corsair Value Select DDR2 667	107
Hard Drive	250GB Samsung SP2504C	73
Optical Drive	18x Pioneer DVR-212D SATA	46
Graphics Card	[http://www.nvidia.com/page/geforce8.html 256MB NVIDIA GeForce 8600GTS]	210
Sound Card	Onboard from motherboard	-
Case	Cooler Master Centurion 5 CAC-T05	67
Power Supply	SilverStone Strider ST56F 560W	112
Cooling	-	-
Additional	-	-
Total Cost	-	945 + Postage

At a touch under $1000 the Intel Core 2 Duo system is quite impressive. For $1000, this system would be very quick and well suited for demanding office applications and some decent gaming.

$1250 AMD

Part	Model	Price
CPU	AMD Athlon 64 X2 6000+	208
Motherboard	Gigabyte M59SLI-S4	149
RAM	2GB Corsair Value Select DDR2 667	107
Hard Drive	500GB Samsung HD501LJ	139
Optical Drive	18x Pioneer DVR-212D SATA	46
Graphics Card	320MB NVIDIA GeForce 8800GTS	363
Sound Card	Onboard from motherboard	-
Case	Cooler Master Centurion 5 CAC-T05	67
Power Supply	SilverStone Strider ST56F 560W	112
Cooling	Arctic Cooling Freezer 64 Pro	35
Additional	-	-
Total Cost	-	1226 + Postage

This machine is a bargain beast, with a 5600+, Geforce 8800GTS, 2GB of RAM and a 500GB HDD. Definitely a good value system :)

$1250 Intel

Part	Model	Price
CPU	Intel Core 2 Duo E6750	229
Motherboard	Gigabyte P35-S3L	125
RAM	2GB Corsair Value Select DDR2 667	107
Hard Drive	500GB Samsung HD501LJ	139
Optical Drive	18x Pioneer DVR-212D SATA	46
Graphics Card	320MB NVIDIA GeForce 8800GTS	363
Sound Card	Onboard from motherboard	-
Case	Cooler Master Centurion 5 CAC-T05	67
Power Supply	SilverStone Strider ST56F 560W	112
Cooling	-	-
Additional	-	-
Total Cost	-	1188 + Postage

I'd say that this machine is probably the sweet spot. It has a quick CPU, plenty of RAM, and a very quick video card. :)

$1500 AMD

Part	Model	Price
CPU	AMD Athlon 64 X2 6000+	208
Motherboard	Gigabyte M59SLI-S4	149
RAM	400MHz, 533MHz, 667MHz and 800MHz 2GB Kingston ValueRAM DDR2 800	139
Hard Drive	500GB Samsung HD501LJ	139
Optical Drive	18x Pioneer DVR-212D SATA	46
Graphics Card	512MB AMD Radeon HD2900XT	480
Sound Card	Onboard from motherboard	-
Case	Cooler Master Centurion 5 CAC-T05	67
Power Supply	620W Corsair HX-620	168
Cooling	Arctic Cooling Freezer 64 Pro	35
Additional	-	-
Total Cost	-	1431 + Postage

This machine is going to be very quick for any DAAMiT fan.

$1500 Intel

Part	Model	Price
CPU	Intel Core 2 Duo E6750	229
Motherboard	abit IP35-E	147
RAM	400MHz, 533MHz, 667MHz and 800MHz 2GB Kingston ValueRAM DDR2 800	139
Hard Drive	500GB Samsung HD501LJ	139
Optical Drive	18x Pioneer DVR-212D SATA	46
Graphics Card	512MB ATi Radeon HD2900XT	480
Sound Card	Onboard from motherboard	-
Case	Cooler Master Centurion 5 CAC-T05	67
Power Supply	620W Corsair HX-620	168
Cooling	Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro	39
Additional	-	-
Total Cost	-	1455 + Postage

If nVidia cards are more to your taste, the GeForce 8800GTS 640MB is similar money.

$1750 Intel

Part	Model	Price
CPU	Intel Core 2 Duo E6750	229
Motherboard	abit IP35-E	147
RAM	400MHz, 533MHz, 667MHz and 800MHz 2GB Kingston ValueRAM DDR2 800	139
Hard Drive	500GB Samsung HD501LJ	139
Optical Drive	18x Pioneer DVR-212D SATA	46
Graphics Card	768MB nVidia GeForce 8800GTX	699
Sound Card	Onboard from motherboard	-
Case	Cooler Master Centurion 5 CAC-T05	67
Power Supply	620W Corsair HX-620	168
Cooling	Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro	39
Additional	-	-
Total Cost	-	1673 + Postage

Probably as far as the average user needs to go to have a very decent gaming experience - top of the range graphics card with a decent CPU.

After this point, the higher end systems are found in the Dream Machine section

$1750 Intel Core 2 Duo

Part	Model	Price
CPU	Intel Core 2 Duo E6750	226
Motherboard	ASUS P5K-E	225
RAM	2GB Crucial Ballistix DDR2 800	219
Hard Drive	2x 250GB Samsung SP2504C	150
Optical Drive	18x LG H62N SATA	40
Graphics Card	640MB NVIDIA GeForce 8800GTS	474
Sound Card	Onboard from motherboard	-
Case	iCute S901-5GA-BB/WW/SS	85
Power Supply	620W Corsair HX-620	168
Cooling	Thermalright Ultra 120 eXtreme + Fan	99
Additional	-	-
Total Cost	-	1686 + Postage