Cheap Core 2 System

[ex_reven]

Hey guys, my sisters boyfriend wants me to build him a machine.

Now, Im just building the tower so I dont really need to worry about speakers, monitor etc.
Hes computer illiterate (you should have seen him try to describe the system he wanted - "ummmm a IBM computer" - I lol'd at him so hard).

Basically he wants fast everything, but he aint a gamer.
He also wants it as cheap as possible.

I set the mark around something like
- E6300
- C2D Mobo, 800mhz Ram, PCI-E
- 120 to 250gb hard drive (preferably sata)
- DVD-RW drive
- 800mhz RAM (I know this is a budget system, but Id prefer this spec of ram)
- 400 to 500 Watt PSU or whatever seems decent
- Case (with a PSU if its a decent one)

He has a max of $800AUD which is roughly $650 US.
But I'd love the system to be as cheap as possible.
Id look forward to seeing some suggestions :D

The Hard drive, CPU, DVD Drive are the easy things to pick and I already have my mind set on either a Raptor or a Barracuda for storage. Its the mobo thats a difficult choice.

[DrunkenMafia]

hey raven, i just built 2 systems last week for that price,

I used the following bits all purchased from itestate.com.au,

PD00004496 Intel S775 Series Core 2 Duo CPU/Processor Intel Core 2 Duo E4300 1.80MHz 2MB LGA775 $145.00
PD00003792 3.5" HDD SATA-300 Seagate 3.5" HDD SATA-300 250GB 16MB Seagate $88.00 1 $88.00
PD00004408 Desktop DDR2 Ram Generic Desktop DDR2 Ram 2GB Kit (2x1024MB) 800MHz Generic $98.00 1 $98.00
PD00004033 Intel S775 Series Gigabyte MotherBoard Intel S775 Gigabyte GA-965P-S3 (Core2/DDR2-800/8CH) $115.01 1 $115.01
PD00004654 Wireless Keyboard Combo Microsoft Wireless Keyboard Combo MS WIRELESS OPTL DSKTP 2000 BLACK $49.01 1 $49.01
PD00004806 Office PC Midi Case CoolerMaster ATX Case CoolerMaster Elite 330 no PSU Black $44.00 1 $44.00
PD00004199 Video Card PCI-e (ATI) Generic Video Card PCI-e (ATI) X550 128MB Generic (1xDVI/TV out) $44.00 1 $44.00

Put it together no probs, works great too, that case from coolermaster is excellent for only 45 bucks, that is without a psu, they do it with a psu for about 25 more.

The ram is promos and the vcard is an asus one, works great. You could even spend 50 more and put in a 8500gt so he has some DX10 and HD compatibility.

[ex_reven]

Looks decent, I should be able to shave $150 off considering he will probably only need 1 gig of ram, and because he has a mouse/keyboard and I can give him an old X600 thats been on the shelf for the past 2 years lol

How did you find the processor? (did It run well?)