OC and Cooling - Low Budget Gaming PC

Masonator01 · Sep 4, 2014

I am new to the computer building community and have done a fair bit of research on budget gaming, but I would love some expert advice.

Here is what I have so far: http://

I would like to know what the cheapest way to cool this system to overclock the pentium at around 4GHz would be?

Questions, comments, and concerns would be great. Advice would be even greater. Thanks!

legend001523 · Sep 4, 2014

Get a cpu cooler, maybe a hyper evo 212

Masonator01 · Sep 4, 2014

This looks pretty good to me. I'll do a bit more research tomorrow and hopefully top it off with a cheap case! More suggestions are always good though. The more info I can get my hands on, the better.

legend001523 · Sep 4, 2014

a corsair 300R isquite cheap

TopLuca · Sep 4, 2014

I've seen lots of people OC to very good rates using the stock cooler , its the better version of the stock heatsinks so it should do alright.
I've done some modifications to your build which will result in better gaming performance overall with the r9 270 which can be overclocked to 270x levels opposed to 8gb of ram that you don't really need all that much and won't really be best bang for your buck . Furthermore I replaced the mobo with a very elegant gigabyte mobo that overclocks to a moderate 4.2/3 GHZ very stable but has very nice features and on top of that its gigabyte.
All that for just 20 bucks more

http://pcpartpicker.com/p/gPYP8d

as123 · Sep 4, 2014

That motherboard is using the h81 chipset which doesn't natively support overclocking. Asus is the first manufacturer to figure out overclocking on non z chipsets (z97, z87, so on). Only the new asus boards h97 and h87 boards support overclocking that pentium you picked. H87 boards won't support that cpu out of the box. You would have to update the bios. To update the bios you would have to either buy a cpu that would work in an h87 board, then return it after you update the bios, or borrow one from someone. So I would reccomend getting h97.

So in short this is the only motherboard you could get that would support OCing that cpu out of the box:
http://www.amazon.com/ASUS-Micro-Motherboards-H97M-E-CSM/dp/B00K2R69PQ/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1409811349&sr=8-2&keywords=h97+asus

as123 · Sep 4, 2014

TopLuca :

I've seen lots of people OC to very good rates using the stock cooler , its the better version of the stock heatsinks so it should do alright.
I've done some modifications to your build which will result in better gaming performance overall with the r9 270 which can be overclocked to 270x levels opposed to 8gb of ram that you don't really need all that much and won't really be best bang for your buck . Furthermore I replaced the mobo with a very elegant gigabyte mobo that overclocks to a moderate 4.2/3 GHZ very stable but has very nice features and on top of that its gigabyte.
All that for just 20 bucks more

http://pcpartpicker.com/p/gPYP8d

^Again that mobo doesn't support ocing

as123 · Sep 4, 2014

And you would have to update the bios with an older cpu because it is b85. Pentium requires chipsets with 9 in the middle (z97, h97, b95) to be support out of the box. Z means the board supports overclocking unless its the new asus boards that i mentioned earlier.

TopLuca · Sep 4, 2014

as123 :

The mobo supports overclocking and no cpu refresh , it will need bios update but that's easy business , see this video mate : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8LazZv1FIwQ&list=FL0S4Y5f6GP5MqIKX5L4z-0w&index=14

Most manufacturers enabled overclocking on their other boards after what MSI did so its not really strange , maybe you're little bit outdated.

as123 · Sep 4, 2014

I stand corrected

as123 · Sep 4, 2014

Heres my source: http://www.techpowerup.com/mobile/202196/asus-enables-overclocking-on-h97-h87-b85-and-h81-series-motherboards.html

Masonator01 · Sep 4, 2014

TopLuca :

This comes as a bit of a surprise to me as I was under the impression that for most gaming, 8gb is "enough." I can probably see cutting to 6gb as it's what my brother has in his laptop and it does pretty well, but why would it be ok to only use 4gb of ram? Also, I was not planning on OCing my graphics card. Does it go hand in hand when you OC the cpu?

And yes, I WAS planning to update the BIOS on the H81 before OCing the Pentium which you pointed out.

as123 · Sep 4, 2014

OCing cpu an glu are two totally different things. If you oc your cpu which you should definitely do, that doesnt mean you have to oc your gpu if that is what your asking. The gigabyte motherboard that was recommended has 4 ram slots, so one option you have is to get a 2x2 gb kit of ram, and later get another 2x2 kit when prices drop or you get the money. With ddr4 coming out I would expect 2x2 kits to drop to around $35 within the next year or two. In the end you save $15. Overclocking your gpu is not hard, or especially dangerous as long as you dont mess with voltages and you take your time.

Masonator01 · Sep 4, 2014

as123 :

Ok, this helps. I may consider OCing my gpu a bit. In that case would the card that Top Luca recommended be advantageous as I assume it is made for overclocking? (it has OC in the name)

Also, can I get by in the gaming world with just a 2x2 gb kit of ram? My main game is League of Legends, so that's probably not a problem, but I want a computer that has the capability to play some higher end games. Much of that can be solved with a good gpu, but won't 4 gb be a bottleneck if I try to play a new game like destiny?

as123 · Sep 4, 2014

The OC in the name means its factory overclocked. This just means it clocked slighty higher compared to a reference r9 270. Honestly the pentium while being cheap a providing awesome performance for the price will probably be just as big of a bottleneck as the ram. When you playing a game that uses more ram than you have you FPS will drop suddenly and in some cases as much as %50. This will usually happening when you a loading a new part of the map and your pc will start using your hard drive as extra RAM. Hard drives are much much slower than ram which is why you see such a big fps drop. For league of legends the setup that you have will likely max it out at 1080p 60fps, with occasional dips to 45 because of the pentium. Overclocking the pentium should help minimize those dips though. As for Destiny, rumors are that its going to be pretty demanding. If I were to give you an fps estimate, I would expect you to be able to play at 720p, medium-low setting at 45fps average. That's just a rough ball park though.

I figured I would put together a budget pc to show you what I would recommend.
http://pcpartpicker.com/p/ZKFJpg
I built a system with alot of the same parts as this for a friend. This will max out bf4 at 1080p 60 fps. I can't speak for destiny but most games I have tried on it have been able to be maxed out, except for the obvious ones (crysis, metro, etc). This configuration is the best $ per fps right now. Just my 2 cents

TopLuca · Sep 4, 2014

Destiny isn't going to be released for PC anyways , even the most demanding games like crysis 3 ( one of our mates here on tomshardware did this experiment ) while gaming on only 2gb and got stable fps , the fps drops comes from the RAM. The RAM will become a bottleneck only when you play 64 man server on battlefield or the most demanding campaign games and even then it will be 10% bottleneck.

Masonator01 · Sep 4, 2014

Thanks for the info as123. At first glance, your build looks pretty solid. I may end up using part or all of it when i actually decide on a setup, but I will definitely have to do some more looking before that. The Pentium would be great for a low budget/light gaming computer, but really, I may just spend some extra money for a more solid build. Nothing is set in stone yet.

I believe I now have the knowledge I need to get through my first build. Thanks again!

Masonator01 · Sep 4, 2014

TopLuca :

Ah, my mistake. I just used Destiny as a high-quality example because one of my friends is crazy about it. I haven't actually looked at the game. He has a PS4 though, so that makes sense. As far as RAM goes, I'll keep this in mind. I'm still not set on any one final solution yet, it's still in the works.

TopLuca · Sep 4, 2014

Everybody's going to have different opinions and different experience while playing games , not all chips and systems are the same so its up to you to decide each and everything as its your money at the end of the day ! We're just here to help

OC and Cooling - Low Budget Gaming PC

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