10 Quad Core Desktop PCs From £269.95 delivered

Never in the history of computing has so much power and storage been available for so cheap. The competition between AMD and Intel means that technology that were worth tens of thousands of pounds only a decade ago can be had for a few hundreds pounds.

Multi core technology has been one of the most important milestones in consumer computing. Dual or Four-way processors were the exclusive reserve of expensive workstations and servers as recently as 2004 but things have now changed.

Gathered today are 10 Desktop computers which are widely available in the UK for under £350 including delivery. They all sport four cores on one physical socket (hence the name quad core) which means that they provide with exceptional firepower for not a lot of money.

The cheapest of them all is the Advent T9610, a first-generation Quad core computer on sale at EuroPC. It is graded as a "cancelled/As new stock" and carries a 12-month returb to base warranty. Don't let the terms "refurbished" or "reconditioned" drive you way as they form the bulk of the best bargains in the tech industry.  

Still, for £280 + P&P, you could do a lot worse. At the heart of the system is a Q6600 processor running at 2.4GHz, coupled with 3GB RAM and a smallish 250GB hard disk drive. The T9610 also packs Windows Home Premium, a Geforce 8400GS graphics card, all packed in a nice mid-tower casing.