Building A System from Scratch, Part I - The processor and the power supply
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The second choice for anyone compiling a list of things they want to buy to put in their PCs should be the processor; this is the "brain" of the PC, performing the calculations that make the PC work. There are two real choices that you have here, Intel or AMD. Even though both companies have been around since the 60s, Intel didn't release its first microprocessor until 1971, and AMD didn't come up with a competitive answer to Intel chips until 1994.
Intel has always had the bigger market share and wider customer base because of the loyalty bred from its lead in processor development, and is often the company that instantiates the innovations. Its products are, howevers, usually much more expensive than equivalent AMD offerings, and in recent years AMD has become a real alternative to Intel, offering comparable power at a reduced price.
A major difference between the two companies is how the speed of each manufacturer's CPUs is measured. I won't go over the specifics, but basically AMD claims to offer a 25 percent increase in performance against a comparative Intel chip, so an Athlon XP 3200+ will perform 25 percent more efficiently than an Intel Pentium 4 3.2Ghz CPU. With this in mind, I would advise all but the most demanding of professional users to seriously think about using AMD.
Make sure that you buy a power supply unit capable of supplying the required amount of power to your system. Pentium 4 and equivalent processors will need at least 350W of raw power, and more if you go for a high-octane graphics card. My advice when choosing a power supply unit is to shop around as much as you can, as there can be vast differences in the abilities of similarly priced units, and the most money spent is not always the wisest money spent.
The Antec family of PSUs is liked and respected by members of the PC building elite, and offers a range of innovations, such as dedicated circuitry support and monitoring, and automatic fan speed control. Be prepared to pay a price when considering Antec, however. One example of a low priced but excellently rated PSU is a Super Flower PSU, priced at around $30 and bringing to the table four variable speed fans, input and output voltage protection, and SATA connector support. The Super Flower also has a coveted Dev Hardware Recommended award under its belt, so be sure to check it out.
Most motherboards bought today require additional power from a 12V cable to supply the CPU with dedicated power. These cables are usually black and yellow and have a square four-pin connector which slots into the board away from the main ATX power connector. Be sure your PSU has one of these cables, because you will otherwise need to waste one of your standard four pin device power cables with a conversion cable.
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