Part Two Build your Own PC

The PC Motherboard or main board is the foundation of the system and can make or break your build. After to many failed boards of assorted brand names, I've settled on ASUS motherboards for all my systems. ASUS quality control is superior and their buss work is some of the fastest on the market. Their boards are reliable and long lasting.
For this build I will be using the ASUS Model M5A88-M.

This motherboard supports AMD® AM3+ multi-core processors with unique L3 cache and delivers better overclocking capabilities with less power consumption. It features dual-channel DDR3 memory support and accelerates data transfer rate up to 5200MT/s via HyperTransport™ 3.0 based system bus. This motherboard supports AMD® CPUs in the new 32nm manufacturing process.

AMD® 880G Chipset is designed to support up to 5200MT/s HyperTransport™ 3.0 (HT 3.0) interface speed and PCI Express™ 2.0 x16 graphics. It is optimized with AMD®’s latest AM3+ and multi-core CPUs to provide excellent system performance and overclocking capabilities.

I always use a board with four memory slots for my systems. Using two (2) (Paired)memory modules  gives you Dual Channel 128 bit bandwidth across the memory buss and alleviates bottle necks. The board will support up to 16 gigabytes of DDR3 1333 MHz RAM

CPU (Central Procession Unit)

Since 1995 I have built all my systems around the AMD line of processors. In the early years AMD CPU's had a tendency to run hot. With the right Heat sink and fan I overcame the problems and they ran very well. With the advent of 64 bit technology AMD moved to the front of the pack. They were the first out of the gate with a 64 bit processor. Helped along by Microsoft's XP 64 Operating system the first 64 bit system hit the market. While printer were slow to adopt and create 64 bit drivers Motherboard and Video Card Manufactures quickly ccame out with 64 bit drivers to suppoet the OS.

AMD's line of processors is extensive. From  Low to high (For Desktops) SEMPRON, Athlon, Phenom, FX Series. Since our motherboard is limited to the 1333 Mhz RAM, I will be using the Phenom 3.2 Gig quad core (Four (4) Physical cores) processor  Price range for the AMD processors, $65 -- $200 
NOTE: I only purchase the boxed processors. They come with a heat sink and fan and a three year warranty. Processors labeled OEM (Original Equipment Manufacturer) have only a 90 warranty do not come with the heat sink and fan.
You will have to research out what you want and how much you can afford to spend on this component.

RAM (Random Access Memory)
Memory is the final component we'll discuss today. Today DDR 3 Ram runs at speeds of 1066 Mhz or higher, making computers faster and more efficient. Of course software get more complex, so your PC my not, at time feel any faster. RAM comes from a number of Manufactures. Four I recommend are (In order of preference),

G.Skill
Kingston
Super Talent
Corsair

Windows 7 64 bit is capable of addressing all the RAM this mother board can handle (16 Gig ).  Unless you have a complelling reason to require a 32 bit platform I would go with the 64 bit Version. For this build we will be useing that and eight Gig of ram. I consider 4 gig the minimum for Windows 7 64 bit.

NEXT: Hard Disk Drive, Optical drive, Card Reader, Wireless NIC>