Step 2 – Choose Your Processor.

There are only 2 manufacturers of processor that you should consider; Intel and AMD. There are other manufacturers of processors but they are relatively uncommon and you will have a hard time trying to find components that are compatible. Personally I have always gone for AMD processors with self build projects, they perform on par with (and sometimes beyond) Intel processors and are generally cheaper when compared like for like with the Intel chips.

Your choice of speed of processor is entirely up to you, some people like to go for the fastest they can afford, while it is true that you need a fairly fast processor you don’t need to go overboard if you’re just using the your media center PC in the living room to watch TV and listen to music. If you plan to use your media center PC  for anything else such as games or video editing then you ought to really focus on buying an upper range model of processor. Don’t forget though that generally the faster the processor the more heat it will produce, and heat is the one thing that we’re trying to keep to a minimum due to the cooling (remember the sound issue). In my HTPC I opted for an AMD Athlon XP 2400+. This processor is by no means fast by today’s standards but it performs the job well using Windows Media Center 2005 (and Windows Vista) and even copes fairly well with the games that I run occasionally although it has to be said that I use the HTPC primarily for watching TV. This processor is really cheap now as it has been superseded; a quick search on ebay sees some XP 2400+ processors selling for less than £40. If I were to build one again right now I would probably be opting for a processor that would fit a socket 940 motherboard as this would ensure that the PC is upgradeable in the future should I need to.

Step 3 – Choose your motherboard (or mainboard).

The motherboard will be your key purchase, it might not be the most expensive component but choosing a motherboard wisely can maximise the performance of all the other components that are going to attach to it. You don’t want to be spending £200 on a processor which isn’t performing to its capabilities due to a wrong choice in your £50 motherboard do you?

Your choice of motherboard will be primarily determined by your choice of processor. If you have chosen a AMD XP 2400+ processor like the one I have then you will need to choose a socket A motherboard. If you have chosen a newer AMD processor like the AMD Sempron 3600+ for instance, then you will most likely need a socket 940 motherboard. If you’ve chosen a newer Intel processor like the Pentium D 930 then you will most likely need a socket 775 motherboard. Look at the manufacturer’s documentation that accompanies the processor and it will tell you which socket of motherboard that it will fit into. Please note that you must buy the right motherboard that will fit your processor, otherwise the two will not fit together in anyway and they will be entirely incompatible.