How to Build Your Own PC - Save A Buck And Learn A Lot  9  Chapter 13: What’s Next?

Careers in PC Repair 1

For those who want to learn more about PCs, I recommend these resources.

Books:

• Build Your Own PC, Third Edition by Morris Rosenthal. This book is a photo-intensive guide to building your own PC. It’s aimed at the beginner to intermediate-level builder.
  
  
• Building a PC for Dummies by Mark L. Chambers. Covers satellite Internet and some things not covered in other books.
  
  
• PC Hardware in a Nutshell, 2nd Edition by Robert Bruce Thompson and Barbara Fritchman Thompson. A more advanced book (an 800-page nutshell!) for those who want to understand hardware selection at a deeper level. (The authors also have a companion website, hardwareguys.com, which gives their current hardware recommendations.)
  
  
• Upgrading and Repairing PCs by Scott Mueller. This is a huge book. You might only want to read the parts of it that interest you at the time. This book is a standard text in many computer repair classes and has sold over two million copies. Scott Mueller is to PC repair what Michael Jordan is to basketball. For the intermediate to advanced builder. The companion website is UpgradingAndRepairingPCs.com
  
  
• Upgrading and Repairing Networks (3rd Edition) by Terry Ogletree.

Internet Sites:

• http://www.tech-report.com (http://www.tech-report.com/reviews/) has many mainboard reviews.
  
  
• google.com. Once you find a mainboard that interests you, search google.com for reviews of that particular mainboard by entering the name of the mainboard. For example, if you contemplate purchasing an Abit Is7 mainboard, type “Abit Is7” into google.com and look for reviews of it. In fact, google.com is probably one of your best resources to obtain information about nearly anything. Try searching on various keyword combinations about the topic.
  
  
• http://www.pcguide.com This website is highly recommended. It provides a wealth of information about how computers work. A good place to start is with the “Introduction to the PC” at /intro/index.htm
  
  
• http://www.pcworld.com
  
  
• TomsHardware.com. Another great site. It also includes a complete guide to building a PC. A good place to start is with “Tom’s Guides.”
  
  
• http://www.anandtech.com
  
  
• http://www.computing.net
  
  
• http://www.buildeasypc.com
  
  
• http://www.pcmech.com (Information about building PCs)
  
  
• http://www.amd.com (AMD has information about building a PC with their Athlon processors, including a complete pdf booklet which discusses proper airflow, cooling, and more.)

Careers in PC Repair 1