This looked like a good deal to me.. quard core, with 4 gig of ram. 8 gig would be better, and you could probably add that within your budget.

http://www.pcworld.co.uk/martprd/store/pcw_page.jsp?BV_SessionID=@@@@2049096802.1233685269@@@@&BV_EngineID=cceeadegghikfehcflgceggdhhmdgmi.0&page=Product&fm=null&sm=null&tm=null&sku=853071&category_oid=

Way too many people take way too many things way too seriously.