We know where we’re going to make our purchase from so now we have to make our selections.

A Basic Overview of Components
What are the components you need to build a computer? Well first, “building” a computer is a rather loose term, it’s more accurate to say “assemble”, as in a puzzle. You acquire your pieces and put them where they go.

All components go inside of a case. A power supply (PSU) divvies electricity to the components. The motherboard (or mobo) connects to all components and is a sort of traffic coordinator for information. The processor (CPU) is the brain.  The video card (graphics card, GFX) processes video. Memory (RAM) is where the computer looks to process information like loading programs. Hard drives (HD, HDD) are where your data is stored. Optical drives, such as CD-ROM, CD-RW, DVD, DVD-RW, are typically needed to install programs.

Those are the basic components. It can get more involved if you desire, but those are the basics.

What to Pick First
Usually it’s best to start with the CPU. Choosing a CPU will immediately begin to narrow down the motherboards you can choose from, and the RAM that will fit that motherboard, and how large of a power supply you will need to run it. There’s half of your system right there. With our $400 budget we won’t need to be as concerned with this as if we were building a gaming machine though.

AMD vs. Intel
This is an interesting question that you will most likely get a differing answer from whomever you ask. I say go with what you can afford, which will be my answer to most questions regarding brand, or type. At the time of this writing, Intel offers the fastest CPUs, while AMD will be able to offer you something more mindful of your budget. Either will run your system.

From the Newegg home page go to the Computer Hardware menu and select CPUs / Processors. This will bring up that days Featured CPUs / Processors Deals, and another menu on the left. Select Processors – Desktops. We see another menu on the left. Since we are budget minded for this build we will be highly concerned with the price. On the left menu We see a price list for CPUs. The CPU will potentially be the single most espensive component of your computer, so lets pick $75 – $100. You might be thinking, “$100 is one-quarter of my budget!” Yes, but many of the other components can be had for $20-50 each. The more power you have the more you can do. Plus, the longer your computer will remain relevant.

In our $75-100 range we have a few CPUs. Now the hard part: which one? Let’s take a look at the aspects of a CPU and see if that can answer our question.

Sockets
The socket is the name for the pin configuration of the CPU. If you don’t want to get too involved with that information, do know that you will have to match a CPU socket with a like motherboard socket. For example, if you choose an AM2 socket CPU you will NOT be able to install it into an Intel LGA 775 motherboard.

Cores
The number of cores a CPU has affects its cost and performance, and they’re both directly proportional. More cores, more cost. But unless you’re rendering video or 3D models having more cores will not necessarily benefit you quite yet.

Operating Frequency
This is the speed at which the CPU runs. For most purposes the main area to be concerned with is what frequency do your applications need to run efficiently? Applications come with system requirements and will note the minimum needed GHz a CPU needs to be in order to run.

Frontside Bus (FSB) / Hypertransport
These are two different technologies. FSB has to do with Intel CPUs only, and Hypertransport deals with AMD only. These relate to the path the information to/from the CPU travels on and how fast it can travel on that path. The higher this number is the faster information can travel across your mobo.

Cache
This is a smaller and faster RAM that is on the CPU, and is used by the CPU to store frequently used bits of data. Again, larger = better = more $.

Thermal Power
Without getting too technical as that’s not the purpose of this series, this has to do with how much power the CPU draws. This is most important in the motherboard selection as you will have to select a motherboard that can supply the CPU with its requested wattage. A 65W CPU will need to go in at least a 65W motherboard.

Cooling Device
This is the heatsink/fan (HSF). They are either Included or Not Included.  Typically the HSF is included in Retail versions of CPUs, and not in Black Edition (BE), or OEM versions.

The other specs are important, but somewhat beyond getting a basic machine. Next time we’ll begin to look at motherboards.