A Good Cheap $300 Computer Build for 2017

Going from a cheap build of $200 to a budget of $300 makes a world of difference in terms of performance. In this case, it takes us from 720p gaming to solid performance in 1080p.

In the past, I’ve heard people say it’s simply not worth it to build a PC unless you’re willing to spend $500. As a result of this build, I feel that this mentality might change. Perhaps it’s Intel’s G3258 that makes it all possible. The massive overclocking performance of this CPU with its stock cooler is in a league of its own.

Or perhaps it’s because 1440p and 4k game play are becoming a standard. So, gaming in high settings at 1080p is the norm even for lower graphics cards.   Either way, gamers looking to build a good and cheap gaming PC are the benefactors.

Affordable $300 to $350 Gaming PC Build

Part		Thoughts:	See/Amazon/Newegg
CPU	Intel Pentium Processor G3258	The Pentium G3258 is an incredible overclocker with the stock CPU cooler and a budget motherboard.	Check Amazon Price Check Newegg Price
Graphics Card	NVIDIA GTX 1050 or AMD Rx 460 Graphics Card	You'll get fantastic performance for around $100 after rebate from either of these cards.	Check Amazon Price Check Newegg Price
Power Supply	EVGA 430w 80 Plus PSU	A good value for the money. Also look for sales on the CX 430 as well as the 500w version of this same model.	Check Amazon Price Check Newegg Price
Motherboard	MSI MATX Motherboard H81M-P33	A 4.5GHz overclock is possible with this motherboard.	Check Amazon Price Check Newegg Price
RAM	Kingston HyperX Fury Black 8GB (2x4GB) 1600 Memory	Nothing special about this ram. Fast and cheap. If it's not on sale, find something similar.	Check Amazon Price Check Newegg Price
Hard Drive	320GB WD Caviar Blue	I like this series because it's reliable and cheap. You can also tripple the capacity for double the price here.	Check Amazon Price Check Newegg Price
Case	Xion Performance mATX, Rosewill FBM-01 or 02 (newer model), Fractal Design Core 1000	All of these cases do a great job for this build. However, look for rebates on higher-end models for an even better deal.	Check Amazon Price Check Newegg Price

The Best Cheap Processor for Gaming Under $75

With only $300 for our gaming PC, we’re left with around $75 for our processor budget. Here’s a look at why we’re sticking with the Intel Pentium G3258 after two years.

G3258 Vs. AMD Athlon 750k

Even at stock speeds, the G3258 performs better than the 750k overclocked in Battlefield 4, a game that should be able to take advantage of the Athlon 750k’s additional cores. While this flip flops on a few games, the Intel Pentium G3258 is nearly always the winner with a reasonable overclock.

While some might point out that the Athlon 750k can be overclocked with a cheaper motherboard, the same can now be said about the G3258. This is because BIOS updates from motherboard manufacturers now allow overclocking of the Pentium G3258 on H81, B75, H87, and H97 chipsets. Considering the G3258 is found as low as $55 while the 750k is $70 at the time I’m writing this article, this decision has become an easy one.

What About the AMD Athlon X4 860k?

Even when compared to the Athlon X4 860k the G3258 still strongly outperforms it without an overclock.  Again, despite the lack of cores, the G3258 is the best low-end CPU you’ll find for the money because of its solid single core performance in games. Any step up from here, in my opinion, should be in the form of an i3 with hyper-threading. Specifically, I’d choose the Skylake i3-6100 over even an 8 core CPU like the AMD FX 8320. Hopefully, there’s a place here for Zen in 2017.

G3258 vs G4400 or G4500

It might be tempting to go with one of Intel’s newer Pentium chips. However, overclocking these on a cheap board simply isn’t possible. Also, the G3258 stays cool with a stock cooler. You should only go this direction if you don’t plan on overclocking at all.

Overclocking the Pentium G3258 with a Cheap  Motherboard

When put with a high-end machine the G3258 can safely overclock to about 4.7GHz. Results for this may vary based upon the quality of the CPU you get and the hardware you use; however, for this build using a high-end setup simply doesn’t make sense. Instead, we’re left trying to get the motherboard that will give us the best overclock or value for the money. Tom’s article recently showed a test using the MSI H81M-P33  to overclock the Pentium G3258 to a stable 4.5GHz at 1.3 volts.

This gives you an insane amount of performance for what could even be under $100. It’s a safe bet that there could be another motherboard out there that can give equal or better performance to this one at the $50 price range; however, in the research I’ve done, I haven’t come across it.  This Anandtech thread should give you a very good idea of the performance testing that’s out there so far.

Stretching the Budget $50 for a More Future-Proof Rig

The i3-6100 should definitely be a consideration here as well. If you go with it and a cheap H110 motherboard here you’ll be on the latest generation of processors, be able to use DDR4 memory, and have a much more capable CPU to use as your daily driver.

Budget $100 Gaming Video Cards

If you’re looking hard at graphics cards in the under $100 range, most likely you’ll find three options that stick out above others; the GTX 950, RX 460, and GTX 1050. All of these can be found in a similar price range of around $100 after rebate. If prices are similar, the GTX 1050 is what we’re recommending right now. If the RX 460 is fairly cheaper and you don’t play very demanding titles, it’s certainly an option. Still, the low energy output and high overclocking potential of the GTX 1050 will appeal to most.

RX 460 vs GTX 1050 Benchmarks

For a further analysis of the RX 460 vs the GTX 1050 take a look at the following benchmarks from Hardware Unboxed. They compare the RX 460 to the GTX 1050 across multiple games and API. For the most part, the GTX 1050 seems to win out in performance.

RX 460 vs GTX 1050 ti vs GTX 950 vs GTX 950 Benchmarks

You should also take a look at these benchmarks from Digital Foundry. They compare the RX 460 to the GTX 1050Ti which we’ve found for as low as $129.99 after rebate. For just $30 more, the 1050 Ti will give you a substantial performance boost.

Power Supply Options Under $25 to $30:

While I’d recommend a pricey power supply for builds in the $1,000 price range, it’s hard to justify that for a build that costs between $300 and $350. That being said in the $30 range you can still get a 400+ 80 PLUS certified option from a decent manufacturer.

This month I’m going with the EVGA 430 Watt PSU, but this option might change for you based upon what’s available. If you plan on expanding much in the future, the 500w version of this power supply might well be worth it for $10 more. Look for Rosewill’s Arc and Corsair’s Builder series for alternatives that might be under rebate when you build your PC.

Budget DDR3 Memory Under $45

For memory, the ideal option here is to go with a 4x2GB (8GB) kit of memory. This is all the memory you’d ever need for the build and as memory seems to be cheaper per stick by purchasing in kits of 2×4, I recommend you go this route. Those who are fine sticking with 4GB of memory may be able to keep this build around $300 while those who go for the 8GB of RAM as I suggest, should end up around $320.

There are several kits that would work well for this. G. Skill Value, Kingston HyperX, Patriot Viper, and Corsair Vengeance kits have all come on sale within the last few months. If none of these are available, just find another quality manufacturer to take its place.

A Good Value Case Under $25

For your case, you’ll want to find something that’s both inexpensive and good. For my $200 PC Build and Cheap $150 gaming PC, we used the Xion Micro ATX case. It’s cheap and has a lot to offer. That being said, as I’m recommending the H81M-P33 motherboard from MSI it should be known that this case has USB 3.0 ports in the front I/O while this motherboard is without USB 3.0 headers. You can get a cable to convert them if you’d like or just ignore them altogether.

Cases that regularly fall into this price range include the Roseill FBM-01 and 02 and Fractal Design 1000. Many other cases fall into this range when they’re on rebate. So, be sure to look around for the best deal.

A Good and Cheap Hard Drive Under $25

Unfortunately, we have to slack a little bit on the storage capacity of this build. If you can, you might want to grab an old hard drive from a computer or bite the bullet and upgrade here. Still, we’ve made room for a 250GB Western Digital Drive here. It’ll be enough for your OS and several of your favorite games.

Overall Thoughts on the $300 to $350 Gaming PC Vs. Xbox One and PS4:

Price and performance for this build are really off the chain in comparison to the $300 build we featured earlier this year in our top gaming computers series. If you want to extend the budget for this build, I’d consider upgrading the graphics card first before the CPU. It’s hard to not get excited for a fun build like this one but as always I’d love to hear your feedback and thoughts in the open discussion area below this page.

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