TSR Wiki > Life > Computing and Technology > Building your own PC > [[Tech:Choosing your own PC/CPUs|CPU]]
The CPU (Central Processing Unit) is the heart of your computer, performing the majority of calculations that are required in order for the PC to run. It consists of a single chip which sits in a socket on your motherboard and will usually be supplied with a stock cooler which should fit onto the motherboard.
Before deciding which processor you are going to use you must refer to your motherboards documentation to confirm which sockets it will work with. Not only are there two distinct mainstream manufacturers of processors (AMD and Intel), but there are many sockets unique to each manufacturer. Thus, if you are upgrading a computer that is several years old, a cutting edge processor may not fit into your motherboard. At the moment, common socket types include LGA 775 and Socket AM3+ (supported by Intel and AMD, respectively)- Please mention newer sockets etc...
If you are working with a budget it may be favourable to overclock your processor, the process of over-clocking increases the clock speed of the processor, effectively making the processor do more calculations each second. You should be warned that over-clocking can damage hardware when done incorrectly, in most cases it will also break the warranty of the processor. When overclocking a processor the temperature of the processor can increase dramatically which can damage hardware. To counter this you can purchase a more powerful cooler for your process or monitor the processors temperature via an application such as CpuID. If the processor does reach a dangerous temperature it is likely that the computer will automatically shut down.
