School desktop.

[starvingsteve]

as far as operating systems go, depending on where you go to school, you might be able to get an operating system for either free or at a significant discount. microsoft has some program called microsoft academic alliance and if it has one with your school, you can get some good deals.

and my system is similar to what joga built and it's pretty dirt cheap and works pretty darn good for basic school stuff.

 

[Austinn1]

I think if you're going dual-core ditch Intel. Look at my sig. The cost for everything excluding monitor and OS was $400. I have to say it's been doing me well so far. You won't need anything higher than what I have for programming; take my word for it (roughly 2 years of programming under my belt). Unless you'll be compiling a program with 1000 code files and 3d-rendered images this should fit you very well.

The system i posted includes the Monitor and OS all for only $645.

Starving steve - I will check into to that possiblity when i get a chance.