$400 overclocking gaming build
$400 overclocking gaming build
What's up everyone, this is Besle with a new computer build.
This time i'm going to look into a build i've done a couple of times before, although updated for current items on sale. If you've read some of my previous builds, this might not be new information for you.
The build will be a bang-for-the-buck build, focussing on getting a decent build capable of basic gaming. It won't be a high-end kind of build that will run every game on max, but it should be able to run most games decently. Do note though that some new games won't run too well on this setup.
This build is going to be based mostly on you yourself knowing how to overclock, as the build is quite heavily based on the performance gained by overclocking.
The CPU
Intel Pentium G3258
The Intel Pentium Anniversary model is probably one of the best bang-for-the-buck dualcores out there at the moment. Through heavy overclocking the performance reaches quite some impressive results, and is useful for gaming on a tight budget.
The CPU does well on its own without overclocking, but wouldn't be recommended as such for gaming. It boasts speed on par with the I3 series, but comes without hyperthreading, and performs worse than the I3 in multi-threaded applications as a result of that.
Small guide on how to overclock the G3258
www.overclockersclub.com/guides/intel_pentium_g3258_oc_guide/
WARNING! Overclock at your own risk. Overclocking a CPU can void your warranty and cause other problems!
No peripherals, accesories or operative systems have been used in the total price. Note that prices are prone to vary, due to sales and rebates being offered at the time of writing.
The CPU cooler
Cooler Master Hyper 212
Now overclocking does require a slightly better cooler than what the stock option provides us with, so i've gone ahead and added the CM Hyper 212 plus. The 212 plus is the smaller sibling of the rather famous bang-for-the-buck cooler Cooler Master 212 Evo, and offers performance close to the Evo model.
It will provide us with a better temperature for overclocking, making sure we won't burn off the G3258 due to overheating.
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The motherboard
ASRock Z97 Anniversary
The ASRock Z97 Anniversary, as the name suggests, are named after the G3258 CPU we're using in this build. As the G3258 came out, a demand for a cheap motherboard capable of decent overclocking was raised. The Z97, as well as the H97 counterparts, where made in response to this demand, and does the job of overclocking quite well.
The motherboard is currently on sale, putting it at the same price level as the H97 Anniversary, also by ASRock. I'd normally go with the H97 since the differences as far as i can tell are mediocre, but given the price, better chipset, audio codec and whatnot, i've gone with the Z97 this time.
The Z97 comes with 6 SATA ports for harddrives or optical drives, as well as 6 USB 3.0 ports. It is entirely possible to add more USB ports, but sadly our case doesn't support USB 3.0. There should be a USB 2.0 port on the motherboard you can use instead however.
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The RAM
A-Data XPG V2 8GB
The A-Data XPG are hardly the prettiest RAM on the market, and comes in what i'd call a frisky piss yellow colour. They do the job pretty decently though, and provides us with 1866mhz of speed, at a low latency. It should be noted however, that the RAM most likely are going to be limited by your motherboard, and you'll have to manually set the speed at 1866mhz.
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The Storage
Hitachi Deskstar 1TB
The storage in this build is hardly anything exciting. The Hitachi E7K1000 is a pretty regular harddrive, performs average with average build quality. It is possible to upgrade for more storage later on, if needed.
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The Graphics card
R7 260x Sapphire
Being on a tight budget, there sadly wasn't much room for a bigger graphics card. The R7 260x is AMD's current mid-end line of graphics cards, and performs as such. It will do well in most games, but as i mentioned earlier, you shouldn't expect stellar performance in newer games. It will do well with games like League of Legends, and Counter Strike GO however.
The card also comes with Sapphires own custom cooler, instead of just sporting the standard stock cooler.
To get the general idea about its performance, take a look at this review of the standard R7 260X:
www.eteknix.com/amd-radeon-r7-260x-2gb-graphics-card-review/
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The Case
Zalman Z5
Despite coming at a very low price, the Z5 by Zalman does offer quite a lot of vital components for a good build.
By default it comes with 3 120mm fans, providing pretty good airflow in our case, and ensuring our case stays cooler. It does have basic dustfilters mounted in the bottom as well, making sure we don't pick up too much dust when it's on.
It sports basic wiring holes, making it easier for us to do basic cable management, something missing in a lot of low-end cases, making this a perfect pick for our build.
It is slightly different from the Z5 Plus from my previous build, and doesn't sport a fan controller
The case is currently on sale, so the price won't stay this low forever.
The power supply
Corsair CSM 450w
I recently used this power supply in my previous build when it went on sale, and this sale price is the reason for its comeback. At a very low price we get a semi-modular, 80+ gold power supply, and one of the better models on the market. There's no power supply of equal value i've found so far, making this the best pick for our build, and a good pick.
With a build hitting approx. 280w at full load, this power supply is more than enough for our build, and even with overclock on our CPU.
Price & Conclusion
We've managed to build a sufficient bang-for-the-buck gaming build, which will allow us decent gaming through overclocking. The build also supports upgrading into other I5 and I7 based CPU's based on the same motherboard socket, and even supports most newer graphics cards as long as they don't use too much power.
Total price: $403.40
If you use Mail-In rebates as well.
Link for the parts: pcpartpicker.com/p/BXcGYJ
I hope you've enjoyed the build. Feel free to discuss, or provide constructive criticism in the comment section below. You're free to request a different kind of build.
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