Motherboard And Memory
Motherboard: MSI H81M-P33
MSI's H81M-P33 is an entry-level H81 Express-based motherboard that represents the starting point when you set out to build an LGA 1150–based platform. Although it lacks in overall connectivity and features compared to pricier options, this mATX board comes with all of the basics, including SATA 6Gb/s, rear USB 3.0 ports, and a pair of PCI Express slots.
Although it relies on a modest three-phase power design, we’re only overclocking a 53W Pentium at tame voltages anyway. Outfitted with a tweaking-friendly UEFI, the H81M-P33 gives us a stable foundation for dabbling in entry-level tuning.
Read Customer Reviews of MSI's H81M-P33 Motherboard (opens in new tab)
Memory: 8GB Team Vulcan DDR3-1600 TDBD38G1600HC9DC01
My desire is to outfit eight gigs of dual channel RAM without breaking the bank, and Team Group’s memory kits have been consistently among the most affordable on Newegg. These Vulcan series modules feature yellow heat spreaders rather than blue, but otherwise tout the same XMP settings of DDR3-1600 with CL9-9-9-24 timings, at 1.5V. Unfortunately, our Pentium processor limits me to just 1333MT/s.
Read Customer Reviews of Team Group's Vulcan TLYD38G1600HC9DC01 Memory Kit (opens in new tab)