Workstation

$350 AM2

Part	Model	Price	Case
CPU	AMD Sempron 3200+	47
Motherboard	Gigabyte M61VME-S2	65
RAM	1GB Kingston DDR2-667 kit	60
Hard Drive	80GB SATA HDD	49
Optical Drive	18x Pioneer DVR-212D SATA	46
Graphics Card	Onboard from motherboard	-
Sound Card	Onboard from motherboard	-
Case	Foxconn TSAA805	49
Power Supply	Included with Case	-
Cooling	-	-
Additional	-	-
Total Cost	-	316 + Postage

Some people are on a limited budget, and want a nice basic desktop for Internet use and the like. This machine should be fine for basic tasks. This system, a cheap keyboard/mouse, a copy of Vista Basic or XP Home and a secondhand 17" CRT would provide a nice basic machine for just over $500. The Sempron 3200+ has built-in Cool 'n' Quiet technology, which enables the CPU to lower its clockspeed and fan speed at lower load, which makes the system quieter, and uses less power. The Gigabyte M61VME-S2 has been reviewed by OCAU member Draco II.

$500 AM2

Part	Model	Price	Case
CPU	AMD Athlon 64 X2 3600+ EE	88
Motherboard	Gigabyte M61VME-S2	65
RAM	2GB Kingston DDR2-667	100
Hard Drive	250GB Samsung SP2504C	82
Optical Drive	18x Pioneer DVR-212D SATA	46
Graphics Card	Onboard from motherboard	-
Sound Card	Onboard from motherboard	-
Case	Foxconn TSAA805	49
Power Supply	430W Coolermaster Extreme Power	49
Cooling	-	-
Additional	-	-
Total Cost	-	479 + Postage

This is a fairly good base system. The nVidia chipset means it has reasonable GeForce 6100 video. The case isn't too bad, its cheap but not sore on the eyes.

The system might be pushing the budget a little with the 2GB of RAM, but if you're planning to run Windows Vista, it's definitely worth it.

$750 Core 2 Duo, Workstation

Part	Model	Price	Case
CPU	Core 2 Duo E6420	253
Motherboard	ASRock ConRoe1333-DVI	111
RAM	2GB Kingston DDR2-667	100
Hard Drive	250GB Samsung SP2504C	82
Optical Drive	18x Pioneer DVR-212D SATA	46
Graphics Card	Onboard from motherboard	-
Sound Card	Onboard from motherboard	-
Case	Foxconn TSAA805	49
Power Supply	430W Coolermaster Extreme Power	49
Cooling	-	-
Additional	-	-
Total Cost	-	690 + Postage

With a Core 2 Duo CPU and 2GB of RAM, this machine is a very quick workstation.

$750 Core 2 Duo, Workstation

Part	Model	Price	Case
CPU	Core 2 Duo E6420	253
Motherboard	ASRock ConRoe1333-DVI	111
RAM	2GB Kingston DDR2-667	100
Hard Drive	250GB Samsung SP2504C	82
Optical Drive	18x Pioneer DVR-212D SATA	46
Graphics Card	Onboard from motherboard	-
Sound Card	Onboard from motherboard	-
Case	Foxconn TSAA805	49
Power Supply	430W Coolermaster Extreme Power	49
Cooling	-	-
Additional	-	-
Total Cost	-	690 + Postage

With a Core 2 Duo CPU and 2GB of RAM, this machine is a very quick workstation.

$1000 Core 2 Duo, Entry-Level CAD Machine

Part	Model	Price	Case
CPU	Core 2 Duo E6420	253
Motherboard	ASRock ConRoe1333-DVI	111
RAM	2GB Kingston DDR2-667	100
Hard Drive	250GB Samsung SP2504C	82
Optical Drive	18x Pioneer DVR-212D SATA	46
Graphics Card	Quadro FX 350	275
Sound Card	Onboard from motherboard	-
Case	Foxconn TSAA805	49
Power Supply	430W Coolermaster Extreme Power	49
Cooling	-	-
Additional	-	-
Total Cost	-	965 + Postage