Build the Ultimate Custom PC

Average customer rating: 4.5

Great starting place
Out of date
Excellent Book for First Time Builder
Excellent book to guide someone through the process
Great for 1st time builders

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Build the Ultimate Custom PC
Adrian Kingsley-Hughes , and Kathie Kingsley-Hughes
Manufacturer: Wiley
Product Group: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: 0471760994

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Book Description

<b>Take control of your PC!</b>

Why do they load up a PC with stuff you don't need and leave off the things you really want? Don't take it anymore! Grab a screwdriver and let these two experts show you how to build the PC of your dreams, even if you've never cracked a case before. You'll learn to choose the right components, install them safely, test your system, find the best prices on parts, and even trick out your new machine with some cool tweaks and mods. Plenty of illustrations and step-by-step directions make it easy, and you just might make your wallet happy, too.

<b>How to build what you want</b>

Oh, the things you'll learn! <ul>

Safety first—it's Chapter 1

Choose your tools

Powering this puppy

Motherboard knows best

RAM it into drive(s)

Video and sound are in the cards

Bringing your PC to life

Testing! Testing!

Operate on Windows® XP

Warranties—in English </ul>

Download Description

Authors researched competitive titles and have created a book that covers issues and topics ignored by the others Shows the reader where to find the best deals on parts, when it's safe and economical to reuse parts from an old PC, how to test and troubleshoot the new machine, and how to modify a PC for specific needs Includes stop and test sections, case studies, a supplier listing, and valuable Web addresses An eight-page, four-color section shows detailed photos of the process to help readers know if they're on the right track

Customer Reviews:

Great starting place.......2007-02-07

An excellent review for first time DIY PC builders. It won't help you decide on the specific components for your system, and its a bit behind the curve technically (ie., PATA vs. SATA drives), but overall its an excellent summary of the process of building your own pc.

I used it as a guide, then used web resources (many provided in one of several useful appendices) for further research, chose my components, purchased them and successfully put together a high end gaming pc. This was a great project, and this book was very helpful in making it a success. It is not a standalone resource, however.

Out of date.......2007-01-25

This book is now pretty well out of date. While the process is still relevant, the technology has nearly all been surpassed and is obsolete. Oh, well...

Excellent Book for First Time Builder.......2007-01-10

I am a software developer but have never built my own computer. I decided to do it as a fun project.

In addition, I also find that "store bought" computers in my price range ($800 - $1000 for CPU) are nearly impossible to upgrade since they use such cheap components.

Even if you know a bit about computers (I knew an average amount) I would suggest reading the entire book as you pick up great tidbits of information along the way.

This book gave me the ability to make very smart decisions in buying and building. For instance, I ended up spending more money on my motherboard so I'd have the ability to upgrade substantially in the future.

The book is very good about helping you weigh your options regarding whether you want to build an inexpensive computer or building a box for the future; that is, one that will still have current components in the future and is easy to upgrade.

Not sure if the advanced builder would get much out of this book-- definitely targeted towards the novice.

This book made my first build as easy as pie. I can't wait for the next upgrade/build I get to do.

Excellent book to guide someone through the process.......2007-01-06

I found this an excellent book for reading from front-to-back as a learning exercise prior to selecting and purchasing components and as a reference while actually building my PC. I'm a very experienced PC user who had never really messed with the hardware too much other than installing memory or an occasional PCI card.

The authors first take you through the components you're going to need, and although the specific components they list are a bit old (no published book could ever possibly keep up), I found it very applicable in the building of my state-of-the-art Core2Duo-based machine. After taking you through the components, they go through assembly in detail, highlighting areas of particular difficulty that you need to watch out for.

I read several sources before building my PC, and this is easily the most highly recommended.

Great for 1st time builders.......2006-11-15

If someone is looking to build a computer for the first time, this is probably the best book they could pick up. It goes through everything you need to know in a way that is clear and easy to follow. With this book and a screwdriver, anyone can build a PC.
For those with more experience though, this is more of a reference book. I've done several groud-up builds, so there really wasn't much in here that I didn't already know (although it would have been great a few years ago when I built my first PC).
This is one I've started recommending to friends who are interested in building their own PC so I won't have to worry about getting the "what do I do now?" and "I don't know what I did!" phone calls.

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