We'll be doing a separate article about each of the PC's we're building: the low-cost PC, midrange PC, and high-end PC. In a fourth article that ties them all together, we'll be comparing benchmark results from the three systems.
For now however, let's have a quick look at our benchmark settings and the results we got from the low-cost PC.
Version: 1.1.0System, CPU and Memory TestsWindows Media Player 10.00.00.3646Windows Media Encoder 9.00.00.2980
3DMark05
Version: 1.2System Test Only
SiSoftware Sandra 2005
Version 2005.7.10.60CPU Test = Arithmetic, Multimedia BenchmarksMemory Test = Bandwidth Benchmark
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I built the May 8, 2007 $500 system and was well pleased with it. I went with 2 GB ram but the rest was from the article. In 2011, the video card died from ruptured capacitors. I really miss that card as it was impressive.
Now, I am considering going with 4 GB ram and upgrading the power supply to support a 22 amp video card. Maybe a processor upgrade also.