My new rig should in theory have no problem with Solidworks (I’ll find out when I get back to school). Not sure if they still have this combo deal on newegg (looks like the the processor is out of stock), but if they do, it all cost like $550 shipped. It runs most newer games on high or ultra settings on the 720p tv I’m using as a monitor, with a bias towards higher framerates (>60fps at all times) over better graphics. Its a gaming rig, but I’m using design software and a lack of an xbox360 or PS3 as my rationalization for it.
Basic specs, I’m not at home to check exact model numbers:
AMD Phenom II X6 1090T Black edition (3.2GHz, I could easily overclock it but its fast enough for now)
4 2GB sticks of Crucial Ballistix Sport DDR3 1600 ram (combo deal included 4gb, added a matching 4)
Sapphire 100315L Radeon HD 6850 1GB GDDR5 (960 stream processors)
500gb seagate barracuda
Cougar A560 560W power supply
Some ASUS AM3 motherboard that was included in the bundle
Rosewill Blackbone ATX case
DVD burner from my old computer along with the 500gb drive that was in there as well, but those were free to me.
When I get home (currently in Salt Lake City), I’ll run some benchmarks. $500-600 buys you crazy computing power these days.