Our Thoughts on the Hardware Used

This hasn't been a strict build guide like our PC buying guide – think of it as more of a rough guideline. Some of the hardware we hadn't even seen before, so we took the opportunity to try it out in this build. As a result, some of it is sensible budget stuff while some might simply be fantasy items for a budget system, like the gorgeous Corsair Graphite Series 760T case or massive WD Black 4TB hard drive.

If we mix and match for the two systems we built, this is what would make the most sense:

Standard ATX System
CPU Intel Pentium G3258 $70
Motherboard Asrock Z97 Anniversary $100
Memory Kingston Fury DDR3 8GB 1866MHz $75
Cooling Silverstone Argon Series AR02 $28
Case Silverstone Redline RL01 $50
Graphics Card HIS Radeon R9 270 $150
Power Supply Silverstone Strider Essential ST60F-ESB 600W $65
Primary Storage Corsair Force LS 120GB $95
Secondary Storage WD Black 1TB $80
Total = $713
One of Asrock's Z97 Anniversary edition motherboard are a must have if you are buying a new board for your Pentium G3258 overclocking project. They are as cheap as Z97 motherboards get and are focused on overclocking the G3258 with ease. Additionally, the quick overclocking option that allowed us to test at 4.4GHz is ideal for those who aren't that confident when it comes to overclocking.

The Corsair Hydro Series H100i is an impressively high quality closed-loop liquid cooler, but at $100 it costs more than the G3258, which obviously doesn't make much sense. While it might be a must-have item for Core i5-4670K and Core i7-4790K owners, Pentium G3258 users will be better off with the cheaper Silverstone Argon Series AR02. For $28 it's an incredible buy that managed to keep the 4.4GHz G3258 within six degrees of the Hydro Series H100i.

As impressive as the little Gigabyte GeForce GTX 750 Ti Black is, the slightly more expensive HIS Radeon R9 270 provides more performance, making it the better value option of the two.

Both the Corsair CS Series Modular CS650M and Silverstone Strider Essential ST60F-ESB 600W are solid power supplies and the modular design of the Corsair unit made it better to work with. The Silverstone Strider Essential doesn't have sleeved cables either so it's a bit ugly but at $95 versus $60 or so, the Strider Essential is a better value.

The Kingston Fury SSD 240GB seemed like a good deal at $130, and while the experience is worlds better than a hard drive, there are certainly better options, such as the Corsair Force LS 120GB which was able to deliver high-end SSD performance on a budget. As good as the Corsair Force LS may be, the Crucial MX100 remains the go-to budget SSD right now.

The 128GB model of the Crucial MX100 costs $75, so on top of saving $15 over the Corsair Force LS, the MX100 is also quicker. Moreover, the bigger 256GB model is only $110 – twice the size and faster still. As for secondary storage, if you need space on top of the MX100, you can pick up a WD Green 1TB for $55.

Standard ATX System
CPU Intel Pentium G3258 $70
Motherboard Asrock Z97 Anniversary $100
Memory Kingston Fury DDR3 8GB 1866MHz $75
Cooling Silverstone Argon Series AR02 $28
Case Silverstone Redline RL01 $50
Graphics Card HIS Radeon R9 270 $150
Power Supply Silverstone Strider Essential ST60F-ESB 600W $65
Primary Storage Crucial MX100 256GB $110
Secondary Storage WD Green 1TB $55
Total = $703
Overall, the pricing works out to be much the same but we end up with one hell of a budget gaming rig that many would be proud to own.
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