Most people are reporting that, with a decent cooler, you should be able to reach an overclock of 4.0Ghz with the cores unlocked which sets us up for an amazing budget system!

The processor and motherboard are in a combo deal on Newegg and the motherboard I picked out was the Gigabyte MA770T-UD3. It’s an AM3 based board with core unlocking and overclocking features in the BIOS and since it’s made by Gigabyte, despite being a budget motherboard, the quality will be excellent.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.581279

Follow us on Twitter to listen out for next weeks update of the Budget PC Build series where we will be looking at Coolers!

The Intel Core i5 750 quad core is an excellent choice. Pair it with a nice H55 motherboard and a 2x4GB kit of DDR3 1600MHz RAM and you should be sitting at about $350, leaving you with about $150 for a graphics card which is very respectable.

The above point is very important when building your own system. There is no point what so ever in blowing all your mid-range budget on an amazing processor if you are only going to under-spend on your graphics card. This will only result in a poorer performance than if you spent half as much on both your processor and graphics card put together.

This question is something that should be asked before you even start the planning process of a build because it determines the other main components you should choose to build with such as the motherboard, RAM, graphics card(s), and even cooling.

AMD and Intel both have many, many options for you to choose from that are excellent choices for different situations. AMD, at the moment, is most likely going to give you the best bang for your buck and provide a nice a price to performance ratio while still giving the budget gamer plenty of power and up to six cores.

Intel on the other hand, in the high end area, will give you the most performance and provide you with a higher chance of being able to overclock higher. In the mid range area, AMD is a clear winner due to the low prices and almost all of the dual and triple core chips on the market have the capability of being unlocked to quad cores with the full amount of cache being unlocked too. Intel does have offerings in this area, but they do perform fairly close to the high-end offerings they have and come with a similar price tag. The bottom line is if you are an enthusiast you should go with Intel for the overclocking side of things and budget gaming builders should choose to build off either an AMD x4 or x6 CPU because they perform very well at a much lower price.

First things first, take a look at that:

What more could you want from a CPU cooler for a measly price of $45? It encouraged me to install a window in my cases side panel. How could you just hide this thing?

The cooler comes with a 4-bolt mount which fits nicely onto most AMD and Intel processors, including the new i7. Often included in the pacakge is the Fan Mate 2 speed controller which allows you to run in “silent mode” which according to the Zalman website, is actually silent and vibration free.

The LED fan is 92mm diameters across and made from copper, this will conduct heat like no other. The whole heatsink is 109mm which will fit snugly in your average case without taking up too much room. I have to say though, I was surprised by the height of the CNP57000C at 63mm and I’m guessing Zalman are embarrassed by this as almost all pictures are from a birds eyes view.

Overall, Zalman have done really nice job here and are selling it for a generous price. For more info on this product, check out Zalman’s product page.

You may also be interested in our article on Cleaning your CPU Heatsink for faster performance.

This guide will show you how to safely give your computer a well needed spring clean to free the airways and cool down. We also have a guide on how to wipe your hard drive clean if you are interested in cleaning your PC virtually.

Step One – Opening The Case

There is really nothing to worry about, as long as your PC is UNPLUGGED, then you and your PC will be safe.

Most cases will have either a screw, a catch or a thumbscrew.  The case in the picture requires undoing a simple thumbscrew to open the side panel of the case, this has already been removed.  Once opened, place the side panel of the case in a safe place.

Step Two – Cleaning The PC

Inside, you should see the CPU fan and heatsink right in front of you.

The fan/heatsink in this picture is not bad at all, if your fan looks like this you should generally be fine. Sometimes it can get EXTREMELY dusty in there, so the fan has a hard time rotating.

I recommend using the COOL AIR setting on a hairdryer to blow away all  the dust, then a vacuum cleaner to collect it. There are pressurised air cans that you can buy, but for can of air, they are pricey.

Step Three – Closing The Case

Basically, the side panel goes back on the way you took it off. Some cases may require you to horizontally slide the side panel on, then screw it.

Now just turn your PC back on and listen to how much quieter it is, as your fan doesn’t have to push through all that dust and wear itself out. More importantly, temperatures will drop, causing your CPU to run at a much faster rate!