In a recent feature, we had built a budget machine that offered very good performance at Rs 20,000. The configuration was well-received, and generated a lot of positive and negative feedback from readers. One common complaint was about the use of an AMD dual-core setup. More than quite a few of you wrote in to stay that the system should have been built on Intel’s dual-core processor system.

The reason we did not use an Intel processor in the earlier roundup was simple. When we consider a particular platform to build our base on, we check everything out. In that price bracket the AMD 690G/ dual-core setup offered better VFM than the Intel C2D/G946Gz combination. There was also quite a large difference in the costs involved and this further tilted things in favor of AMD.

However, when we began to look at our next price bracket, we were a bit stumped. The multitude of choices made picking an ideal system quite difficult. After a lot of chopping and changing specifications, we decided to extend our budget by Rs 5,000 and build a machine that would not only serve as an excellent multimedia affair, but actually allow some basic gaming.

Please note that in some places peripherals have remained unchanged from previous articles. In such cases we do not change the relevant text, and carry it forward.

CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo E4400

Intel has over the last year or so been growing from strength to strength. Not only has it reconquered the performance bracket with the C2D processors, it's started introducing powerful budget processors that offer exceptional VFM.

One such product is the Intel C2D E4400. It clocks in at 2 GHz and comes with 2 MB L2 cache. At its price point it has no competitors and offers exceptionally powerful performance. When you factor in that it's highly overclockable, this processor is a natural choice for our rig.

Motherboard: XFX 650i Ultra

Over the last couple of years, XFX has developed a very good reputation for its graphic cards and its exceptional after sales service. The company recently branched off into motherboards, with the introduction of Nvidia's 680 and 650 chipsets.

As its name suggests, the board we've chosen is based on the 650i Ultra chipset, which has native support for the 1333 MHz FSB. The board lacks onboard graphics, but does offer a single PCIe 16x slot, 1 PCIe x1 slot, 8 USB slots, 3 PCI slots, and 4 SATA 2 (3.0 GB) slots.

RAM: Kingston DDR2 667 MHz

RAM prices have recently been going south and it's time to take advantage of this. 1 GB of system memory is absolutely vital nowadays with the increased size and requirements of software. Kingston really needs no introduction. The company has been making quality RAM sticks for a long time. Now available with a 5-year warranty, it’s the perfect product for our machine.