I've had a number of enquires from readers who want to build (or buy) a cheap yet powerful PC. Can it be done? You bet! What components will you need to buy? Read on!
With very little tweaking at all (boosting the core voltage to around 1.4 to 1.465V) it's possible to get this $169 CPU purring at 3.0 - 3.1GHz and need nothing more than the stock cooler.
However, to overclock this CPU up to this level and still keep things stable you will need a decent motherboard.
Gigabyte GA-965P-S3 ($107.9
So, an E4300 CPU and a motherboard that'll allow you to squeeze out all the power the processor has to offer will set you back about $280.
I'd add at least 2GB of good quality RAM
Kingston, Crucial or OCZ.
Platinum series RAM from OCZ because you are allowed to push use a VDIMM of 3.0V ± 5% without invalidating the lifetime warranty
From that point on, what you add to the system is up to you.
clipped from: blogs.zdnet.com