Example high-end computer

A dual-processor Athlon system; prices from newegg.com, 8 May 2002

Tyan Tiger motherboard $177
2 Athlon MP2000 CPUs w/ heatsink & fan 554
2 x 512 MB Kingston DDR registered RAM 364
VisionTek GeForce4 Ti 4600 348
Seagate Barracuda IV 40GB drive 78
3Com 3C905CX ethernet 40
Creative Labs Sound Blaster Live 5.1 36
DVD-ROM drive 51
keyboard & mouse 35
Lian-Li PC-66 case + 400W power supply 189
2 17" Viewsonic monitors 342
total, including shipping 2214

Example mid-range computer

Single-processor Pentium 4

Abit TH7II motherboard $148
2 GHz Pentium 4 w/ hsf 281
512MB Corsair Rambus memory 286
VisionTek GeForce4 Ti 4600 348
Seagate Barracuda IV 40GB drive 78
3Com 3C905CX ethernet 40
Creative Labs Sound Blaster Live 5.1 36
Asus 52x CDROM 32
keyboard & mouse 35
Antec Plus860 midtower w/ 330W P4 power supply 122
17" Viewsonic monitor 171
total, including shipping $1577

Hypothetical extra-cheap computer

Duron, no monitor

Epox EP-8K7A motherboard, w/ built-in audio $78
950 MHz AMD Duron w/ hsf 46
256MB Crucial PC2100 memory 61
MSI GeForce4 MX440 103
Maxtor 20GB drive 64
Netgear FA311 ethernet 18
Sony 52x CDROM 30
keyboard & mouse 20
Enlight case w/ 300W power supply 64
total, including shipping 484