Budget PC Build: $300-$350 Range

Hey everyone 🙂

I'm looking for some help putting together a build around the $3,000 mark--$1133
I'd prefer to go with an AMD setup if possible, mostly because they offer those 24-month financing plans through Affirm, which would make things a lot easier for me to manage... though I'm totally open to other brands if there's a better deal out there with similar payment options

Just the tower, no monitor needed
thanks in advance

What exactly are we building here? You need to tell us what you plan to use this rig for.

So, I'm just looking for a decent, everyday PC for surfing the web, playing some games, and watching movies.
I'm definitely not hunting for some beastly high-end gaming rig right now—I know there's nothing special you can get for that kind of money these days.
But, I guess, what would be the best value I could possibly squeeze out of a build?

Intel build:

1x Intel Pentium G3260 (3MB Cache, 3.30 GHz), s1150
1x MSI H81M-P33, Socket : 1150, Intel H81, DDR3
1x Gigabyte GTX750Ti 2 GB DDR5, 128-bit
1x DDR3 8GB (1x8GB) PC3-12800 1600MHz CL11
1x 1TB Toshiba HDD, 3.5", 7200RPM, 32MB Cache, SATA3
1x FORTRON 400W HEXA Plus 400, 12cm fan
1x Zalman ZM-T1 PLUS micro tower case

TOTAL: $300,$99

AMD build:

1x AMD Athlon x4 840 (4MB Cache, up to 3.80 GHz), sFM2+
1x Gigabyte GA-F2A68HM-S1, sFM2+
1x Gigabyte GTX750Ti 2 GB DDR5, 128-bit
1x DDR3 8GB (1x8GB) PC3-12800 1600MHz CL11
1x 1TB Toshiba HDD, 3.5", 7200RPM, 32MB Cache, SATA3
1x FORTRON 400W HEXA Plus 400, 12cm fan
1x Zalman ZM-T1 PLUS micro tower case

TOTAL: $300,$124

In both cases,
Assembly and shipping are on me.

Buying a G32XX just doesn't make sense unless you're planning to overclock. It's barely faster than the G1820, and let's be honest, the G1820 is half the price. If I were building something in this budget range, I'd probably just go with an FX 4300 instead.

Putting a G32XX on an H81 board? That's a pretty silly combo.

So, which chipset would you actually pair a Pentium with?

I've got an Intel H81 board, which means my overclocking potential is basically zero.

Chris Robinson25 said:I have an H81 motherboard, so there's zero overclocking potential here.

The G3260 isn't even built for OC; I don't know what kind of overclocking you think you're talking about. If we were discussing the G3258, then maybe this conversation would make sense. Even then, trying to OC on an H81 board is a joke, so you're just talking nonsense.

swiftfalcon89 said:Intel build:

1x Intel Pentium G3260 (3MB Cache, 3.30 GHz), s1150
1x MSI H81M-P33, Socket : 1150, Intel H81, DDR3
1x Gigabyte GTX750Ti 2 GB DDR5, 128-bit
1x DDR3 8GB (1x8GB) PC3-12800 1600MHz CL11
1x HDD 1TB Toshiba, 3.5", 7200RPM, 32MB Cache, SATA3
1x FORTRON 400W HEXA Plus 400, 12cm ventilator
1x Zalman ZM-T1 PLUS micro tower case

TOTAL: 3,$99

AMD build:

1x AMD Athlon x4 840 (4MB Cache, up to 3.80 GHz), sFM2+
1x Gigabyte GA-F2A68HM-S1, sFM2+
1x Gigabyte GTX750Ti 2 GB DDR5, 128-bit
1x DDR3 8GB (1x8GB) PC3-12800 1600MHz CL11
1x HDD 1TB Toshiba, 3.5", 7200RPM, 32MB Cache, SATA3
1x FORTRON 400W HEXA Plus 400, 12cm ventilator
1x Zalman ZM-T1 PLUS micro tower case

TOTAL: 3,$124

In both cases
Free assembly and shipping

I'd take the AMD option here. More cores matter now since most games are moving past dual-core limits.

Adam Moore3 said:The G3260 isn't even built for overclocking, so I have no clue what you're talking about. If we were discussing the G3258, then maybe, but even that's a stretch on an H81 board. You're totally off base here.

My H81 VRMs hit about 82°C. If I even dared to touch the processor clock, I would've fried my motherboard long ago. I think I know what I'm doing.

I’m sticking to my guns: the FX 4300 is the better pick. Fine, you know what? I'll actually try building a rig around the FX 4300 just to prove it.

EDIT:

FX 4300 - $207.
Gigabyte GA-970A-DS3P - $173.
LC CC 95 - $28.
XFX TS 450W - $133.
Kingston HyperX Fury DDR 3 8 GB - $107.
Toshiba P300 1GB - $150.
Zalman Z1 - $80.
MSI R7 360 - $320.

The FX 4300 build. You could save some cash by grabbing a cheaper power supply and hard drive—maybe shave about $30 off the total.

All in, this is around $550. It's got a weaker GPU, but a beefier 4-core CPU.

EDIT2:

Never mind... just realized AMD has everything I need right there.

ASRock H110M-HDS motherboard, LGA 1151
Intel Pentium G4400 processor (3MB Cache, 3.30 GHz), LGA 1151
2x MS COOL 12cm BLUE fans, 12 cm diameter, 1000 RPM, 43.2 cm3/min airflow, 19.8 dB(A) noise level,
MS KNIGHT midi tower case (no PSU included) fits ATX or mATX boards. Features 2x 5.25" external bays and 3x
internal bays. SAPPHIRE R7 360 2G D5 graphics card, 2 GB DDR5, 128-bit, 1050/6500 MHz
FORTRON 400W HEXA Plus 400 power supply, 12cm fan, Active PFC, 80%+ efficiency
1TB Seagate Barracuda HDD, 3.5", 7200RPM, 64MB Cache, SATA3, ST1000DM003
8GB (1x8GB) DDR4 PC3-17000 2133MHz CL15 Crucial RAM, CT8G4DFS8213

Total: $3,$117 or 24 monthly payments via AMD

It’s a Skylake build with a decent board and DDR4, plus a slightly faster HDD. I’ve included two cooling fans—maybe one in the front and one in the back would work best. The R7 360 is maybe 10% slower than a GTX 750 Ti if you're using the latest drivers, but I don't think it matters much since the difference is only about $40.

According to AnandTech, it even edges out a few extra FPS in certain games.

I was wondering, is there really a "best" option here, or is everything more or less the same? How much does the bus width actually matter in the long run?
If I’m remembering things right, the bit depth basically dictates how much memory the graphics card ends up using, right?
So, I guess... would it be a better move to go with a 1GB card that has a 256-bit bus, or is a 2GB card with a 128-bit bus actually the way to go?