You might think this is the most important component that will determine your systems overall speed, Well you are right but make sure you don’t spend all your money on buying the processor as the processor speed wont mean anything if you don’t buy the right memory, Storage device and motherboard.

How Is A Processors Speed Measured?
Every processor has a speed rating which is measured in MHZ. 1000mhz is usually addressed as 1gig so a 3.2gig processor would be 3200mhz. Intel’s processors are usually called Intel Pentium 4 3.2gig. So you know that the processor speed is 3200mhz. But be careful with AMD as they name there processors AMD Athlon 3200+ / 4500+ but 3200 and 4500 does not mean that the processor speeds are 3200mhz and 4500mhz, the mhz rating will be much less than this number and is sometimes in small print so watch out.

Do I Need A 64 Bit Processor?
Your software will only benefit from a 64 bit processor if you install an operating system which supports 64 bit. But be aware that some programs / games do not run on 64 bit operating systems.

Do I Need A Processor With Cache?
The more cache a processor has the faster it will be able to perform. Budget processors usually come with 128-512k of cache, Whilst the higher spec processors will come with 1-2mb (1024-2048k) of cache

How Many Cores Do I Need
You might of heard of something called a dual/quad core processor, This is a single processor that has two/four cores inside it. Each core acts like a single processor, So a processor will act as two/four because it has 2/4 processor chips inside it.

You will benefit from a dual/quad core processor if you run more than one program at a time. For our entry system you will not benefit from having a dual/quad core because you are not running processor hungry programs and you are also not running many programs at once.

The dual/quad core processors share the processing that a system needs to do which makes this processor a must for our top of the range system.

Which Processor Brand Shall I buy?
In recent years AMD have really taken over the market from Intel. The recent AMD processors have been out performing intel’s pentium processor range. AMD have also been packing in gaming performance enhancements in to there processors which makes AMD the clear choice for anyone.

Which AMD Processor Shall I Buy?
AMD’s processors include, The budget sempron, which is a low spec processor that will be used in our budget system. The sempron processor does not have a dual core and doesn’t have much cache.

The next step up processor is called an Athlon 64 processor. 64 means that the processor is 64 bit, some operating systems and software will greatly benefit and perform better from your system having a 64 bit processor. The amount of cache a processor will have vary’s, If possible pick the processor with the most cache. We will use the Athlon 64 processor for our Mid Range System.

The top end processors are called AMD Athlon 64 X2, The X2 means its a dual core processor. And the other processor is called Athlon 64 FX, Which is also a dual core processor Personally if I was building a top of the range system I would use these processors as they have been proven again and again that they out perform the Intel processors.

Which Intel Processor Shall I Buy?
Please be aware that sometimes Intel call dual core hyper threading

The intel lineup is a bit of a mess as they have released so many processors, But I will put them in to three bands. The intel processors are similar to AMD as they have budget and dual core processors.

Intel celeron, celeron D and Pentium M are all budget processors and will be used in our entry system. Just like the AMD processors all of these processors are single core and not much cache.

We have a wide range of mid range processors. There is the single core Pentium 4 processor, The lower rated dual core Pentium 4’s, The dual core Pentium D and Pentium 4 Extreme edition processor. To make matters even worse some processors come in 64bit versions as well. I would say for the mid range system pick a dual core processor and I personally would go for the Pentium 4 Dual core processor.

The top of the range processors are a bit easier to pick out. You have the top of the range Pentium 4 dual core processors and you also have Pentium D 800+ processors. These Pentium D processors are the fastest processors that Intel have released and this is what we are going to put in to our top of the range system.

Cooling Fans

 Don’t forget to buy a descent cooling fan.  The processor runs at a very high temperature so if you don’t buy a descent cooling fan you could find your processor will over heat regularly and become faulty / burnet out.  Also if you don’t cool your processor properly it will have a knock on affect and heat up your whole system.

 With a budget processor you might get away buying a cheat cooling fan but I wouldn’t recommend it.  If you have one of the high spec processors then it will be very important for you to buy a descent cooling fan,  You may also want to think about water cooling.

 You can also buy special compound which you put on the processor before you put the cooling fan on,  This compound will help cool the system as it improves the contact between the processor and the fan.

Future Processor Upgrades

 Whilst it will be possible to upgrade your processor you will probably be better off buying a new motherboard and processor. The reason for this is because computer hardware changes so much these days,  Your system might benefit slightly with a faster processor,  but with prices of components getting cheaper and cheaper I would recommend buying a new motherboard and processor.

Power Consumption

 Not really something you need to worry about for a desktop PC, but be aware that lower spec processors will consume far less power than the high spec processors.  If you are buying a laptop or buying a processor for a laptop you need to check how much power the processor will use,  as the more power it will use the less time your battery will last.

Processor Intensive Tasks

 Here is a short list of processor intensive tasks, try not to run these tasks for to long at one time if you can help it.

-Video playback / editing
-DVD ripping
-Playing games
-Speech recognition
-Running out of physical memory

My Recommendations and Why,,

Entry Level System
I would go for the cheapest processor you can find, Either the Intel Celeron or AMD Sempron. Make sure you get at least a 1.5gig (1500mhz) processor speed. In a budget system you don’t need much processing power and you can save a lot of money here.

Mid Range System
Again this is close, But I will go for the Dual Core Pentium 4, I feel this processor will give you the best value for money. But take a look at the price of the Athlon 64 X2 processors, If you want to spend a bit more money, or if you see a good price go for the Athlon.

Top Of The Range System
This is not a difficult choice, The new AMD Athlon 64 FX is by far the best processor on the market at the moment. It has dual core, 2mb / 4mb of cache, internally it runs at a faster (Bus speed). This processor was also designed for gamers and performance.