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into similar systems.

The reason you might wish to decide on a motherboard before you choose a CPU is that there are many different makes and models of motherboard with huge variations in features and sizes. Some motherboards even include built in graphics sets and sound chips that could cut costs further down the decision tree. It is this one decision that will decide the rest of your components.

Once the decision regarding the motherboard has been made, you can then investigate your Pc case options. You can save quite a bit of money by buying cheaply, but that's not always the best policy and by investing in a semi-decent case should cut down on later frustration. Some cases come complete with built-in power supplies whereas others require one as a separate purchase. Things to keep in mind when buying a case are, obviously, the power supply. Will it be enough? If you're only going to use the bare minimum of components, then you should be OK. If you're going to start sticking lots of bits onto your PC, then you might require something with a little more juice. Ask your retailer for some advice on this. Additionally, make sure that the case has enough slots for you to include all your kit. Will the case you choose have enough space for your memory card reader, your optical drive(s) and any front panel connections you wish to use?

What type of PC do you wish to build? I'll start off with some advice regarding a basic home office PC and use this as a base for building any of the other PCs.

A home office/internet surfing PC:

This is probably the cheapest PC you can build as you don't really require anything to be top of the range and, as stated above, you can save a little cash by buying a motherboard with built in graphics and sound capabilities. For doing normal day-to-day computing, built-in graphics and sound can be more than adequate. If you're not going to be playing state of the art games on it, then this can work out quite well as you could potentially save further money by installing an Operating System such as Linux instead of Windows XP or Windows Vista, though a downside to this is that a little more t4echnical knowledge is needed.

In all cases, I suggest buying as much memory as your motherboard can take or you can afford. These days, a minimum of 1GB should be what you aim for.

If you so desire, you can purchase separate graphics and sound cards fairly cheaply and you will gain a performance upgrade by doing this, but whether you'd actually notice is another

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