Sometimes, you just want a cheap and cheerful PC to handle simple tasks. Maybe you want a kitchen PC, or a small PC for a study or bedroom. You don't want a behemoth capable of running Crysis 3 with all the controls turned up to the max, and you're not going to be rendering the next Pixar movie on it. 

Here's a blueprint for just such a PC to get you started. Feel free to customize the build to suit your needs or budget.

This build — excluding Windows, a display, and peripherals, comes in at under $300.

Let's start by looking at the heart of the system — the processor. In this case, the processor is not going to be just the CPU, but also features a built in GPU. This makes the build both cheaper and easier.

For this build, I've chosen AMD's A4-5300 Trinity APU. This is a 3.4GHz — 3.6GHz when in Turbo mode — dual-core part, which also comes equipped with a DirectX 11-enabled Radeon HD 7480D.

Price: $55

The AMD Trinity APU needs a motherboard with a Socket FM2 connector for the processor. I've chosen the MSI FM2-A55M-E33, which is a cheap, yet fully-featured board.

Along with the raft of stuff you expect from a motherboard, this board offers some other cool features:

• OC Genie II: Auto overclocking to boost performance in 1 second

• ClickBIOS II: Easy-to-use UEFI interface

• Super Charger: Fast charge iPad/iPhone/smartphones.

Price: $50

Given that RAM is so cheap, I don't see a need to skimp on it. I've chosen 4GB (2x 2GB) of G-SKILL DDR3 1333.

Price: $35

I've gone for the cheap-and-cheerful — but thoroughly reliable — LG Black UH12NS29 Blu-ray combo drive. As well as being an excellent all-round performer, this drive is both silent and jam-free.

Price: $40

Since this is a budget build, there's no need to go spending big money on a chassis. And for the first time, I'm recommending a cheap chassis and power supply unit (PSU) combo from Rosewill.

The R103A is a mid-tower chassis that comes with a 350W power supply fitted as standard. The PSU is not the best in the world, but from both my personal experience of these, as well as hearing from other owners, they're fine for low-powered systems.

Price: $50