Well the first thing I did was to see how far i could push it.
Using SX3 i can get over ten instances of Nexus for example, playing CPU intesive pads and leads.
Plus have all my compressors eq's and sidechaing running.
And most importantly, can run rediculously CPU intesive Waves ir1 convolution reverbs, and with all this my cpu gets to 50% at the most ever!!!!!!
But, if you run a DAW that fully supports the QUAD such as sonar 7, that would prob register at half that. Somewhere neer 20 - 25 %.
I truly am astounded by it.
Hers what i paid.
2.4ghx cpu £180
Gigabyte mobo £120 (i went for the best)
OCZ ddr2 2gig dual channel ram £50 (fast as ****)
250 gig sata2 HDD 16mb buffer £47.
All including vat. You will need to buy i PCI-E graphics card if you dont have one, price depending on wether games played or not, £30 - £100.
I can source the parts for you, and these are capable of running mac os x if you can be bothered with the hassle ( I havent got round to it yet)
Hope this helps