Build It. Fix It. Own It. A Beginner's Guide to Building and Upgrading a PC shows you how to cobble together your very own PC, even if you never cracked open a case in your life. That's right: even if you wouldn't know a CPU from a PSU or a motherboard from a memory module, this book tells you everything you need to know build a working computer with your bare hands (and perhaps a screwdriver or two).
The first few chapters take you on guided tours of the various PC parts, including the case, motherboard, power supply, processor, hard drive, and memory. Along the way, you learn how each part works and how it fits into the overall design of your custom PC. You also get handy "buyer's guides" that tell you how to make smart choices when purchasing hardware for your hand-crafted machine. I also include chapters on buying parts, setting up your work area, and learning the basic skills that any budding PC builder needs to know.
With all that useful information swimming around in your head, the second half of the book gets downright practical with a series of projects:
- Building a Basic Business PC
- Building a Home Theater PC
- Building a High-Performance PC
- Building a Killer Gaming PC
- Building a Budget PC
Each chapter goes through all the parts you need to get, and then takes you step-by-step through the build process. Building a PC from scratch was never this easy!
Please use links below to learn more about the book. (For some of the links you'll need a program that can open PDF files, such as Adobe Reader.)
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Table of Contents |
| Want the big book picture? Here's the Table of Contents (64KB), which includes the Contents at a Glance (chapter titles) and the complete contents of each chapter. |
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Introduction |
| Would you like a taste of what's inside the book? Sure! Here's the Introduction (101KB), which gives you some book background, gives you an overview of how the book is structured, and runs through some of the book's special features. |
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Sample Chapter |
| Would you like a taste of what's inside the book? Sure! Here's Chapter 2 (464KB), which introduces the central processing unit (CPU), tell syou what to look for when considering a CPU for your projects, and offers a buyer's guiode for making the best CPU purchase. |
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Index |
| Want a complete list of the book's topics? Check out the book's complete Index (979KB), which runs through every topic that I cover in the book. | |