Build the Ultimate Gaming Machine (ExtremeTech) [Paperback]

K.R. Bourgoine (Author), Matthew J. Malm (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 21, 2005 | Series: ExtremeTech (Book 25)

Make one fantasy come true

Leave those mythical monsters alone for a minute and think about this. What if you had a really kickass PC that would let you totally experience the game? What if it included every feature you've dreamed of-a motherboard designed exclusively for gaming, top-notch video and sound cards, the fastest processor? What if another gamer could teach you to build it yourself, without spending a Jedi's ransom? What if you buy this book, turn to page 1, and get started!

Expert instructions for
* Planning your PC
* Setting your budget
* Deciding where to shop for parts
* Choosing a processor, memory, motherboard, sound and video cards, and the rest
* Selecting speakers, a monitor, and a case
* Assembling the PC
* Installing the OS and software
* Hooking up to a game network

Editorial Reviews

From the Back Cover

Make one fantasy come true

Leave those mythical monsters alone for a minute and think about this. What if you had a really kickass PC that would let you totally experience the game? What if it included every feature you've dreamed of—a motherboard designed exclusively for gaming, top-notch video and sound cards, the fastest processor? What if another gamer could teach you to build it yourself, without spending a Jedi's ransom? What if you buy this book, turn to page 1, and get started!

Expert instructions for

1. Planning your PC
2. Setting your budget
3. Deciding where to shop for parts
4. Choosing a processor, memory, motherboard, sound and video cards, and the rest
5. Selecting speakers, a monitor, and a case
6. Assembling the PC<
7. Installing the OS and software
8. Hooking up to a game network

About the Author

K.R. Bourgoine is a hard-core gamer of role-playing, online, and console games. He’s an active beta-tester, having tested Magic Online, Asheron’s Call I and II,World of Warcraft, and Diablo II. In his professional life, Kerry is an IT consultant, Network engineer, and Special Project Manager for a renown law-firm located in New York City with offices across the globe.
He has been building computers for personal and professional use since the 1980s and is certified in 3D StudioMax, PhotoShop, Dreamweaver, and Director. Kerry is also the author of The Acquisitioners (www.acquisitioners.com).
Writing since 2001, his first published work came in the form of a short story, “The Adepth’s Vault: The Bone Sword of Kelifex,” which appeared in Gary Gygax’s Lejends (co-Creator of Dungeons and Dragons) magazine in July 2002. That work expanded into a regular column in which he introduced new artifacts into the Lejendary Adventure world, through the tales of Meselin, The Master of Lore and Arcana for the Society of Lost Knowledge.
The Acquisitioners series was created in 2001 as an expansion of his Mordelack/Shadowcircle Series, a verbal trilogy that follows the rise, reign, and fall of Modelack the Vile. Interestingly, The Acquisitioners series was written before Mordelack ever was put to paper. In December 2003, www.Acquisitioners.com was launched.

Matthew J. Malm is a Microsoft Access Database Developer and VBA Programmer for a large insurance firm in New York, as well as a computer consultant, specializing in building and repairing PCs. Matthew has been programming and gaming since the days of the Apple IIc.

Product Details

• Paperback: 355 pages
• Publisher: Wiley; 1 edition (October 21, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0471755478
• ISBN-13: 978-0471755470
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 7.5 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #151,847 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #87 in Books > Computers & Technology > Hardware > PCs

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Build the baddest box on your block...., November 19, 2005

By 

Thomas Duff "Duffbert" (Portland, OR United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Build the Ultimate Gaming Machine (ExtremeTech) (Paperback)

While I'm not a hardcore gamer, I understand the thrill and appeal of having the baddest box on the block. If that's your goal and you're willing to "roll your own", check out Build The Ultimate Gaming PC by K. R. Bourgoine and Matthew J. Malm.

Contents:
Part 1 - Spec-ing Out Your Ultimate Gaming PC: Let's Make Some Decisions
Part 2 - Let's Go Shopping For Parts: Selecting the Ultimate Gaming Processor; Selecting the Ultimate Gaming Motherboard; Choosing Your Ultimate Memory; Choosing the Ultimate Video Card; Choosing Your Ultimate Storage Devices; Choosing the Ultimate Sound Card and Speakers; Choosing a Case for Your Ultimate Gaming PC; Selecting the Ultimate Power Supply; Choosing Your Ultimate Monitor; Selecting the Ultimate Gaming Accessories
Part 3 - Bringing Your Ultimate Gaming PC to Life: Assembling Your Ultimate PC; Installing Your Software/OS
Part 4 - Advanced Gaming: Multiplayer Gaming
Index

There are a number of things that make this book stand out. The authors do a very nice job explaining what each of the components do, how a gamer should view those components, and what options are most important. For instance, Intel's hyperthreading technology may sound really cool, but most games aren't coded to take full advantage of that. Therefore, the AMD CPU with a slower clock speed actually outperforms the Intel Pentium 4. The logical analysis of those types of issues makes the book valuable even if you're *not* necessarily building a gaming system. I also like how they actually recommend makes and models of components, like CPUs, monitors, and sound cards. You may not agree with their selection or you may choose a different model based on your specific criteria, but you can see how choices are arrived at, and how best to use that same analysis to make your decision. Part 3 ties everything together by showing you how to put the PC together, complete with plenty of photos and clear explanations. Even if you've never built a PC from scratch, you could probably follow along here with little difficulty...

Definitely a strong recommendation for a gamer wanting to build a box that rocks. I'd also recommend the book to anyone looking to build their own computer by carefully analyzing why they are choosing certain parts. Either way, it's a good resource...

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars practical advice on key choices, November 11, 2005

By 

W Boudville (Terra, Sol 3) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Build the Ultimate Gaming Machine (ExtremeTech) (Paperback)

A book for game addicts. For those of you who want the utmost in performance and are prepared to spend money and, more significantly, time, to achieve this ends.

In the centre of the book are placed colour photos that are clearly meant to make you drool. Nice camera work that gives sexy images of cool hardware. Granted, if you do not believe that hardware can be sexy, then this book is probably not for you.

The book explains what are the key parts that affect gaming performance. Primarily the microprocessor, memory, video card and disk drives. For each of these, various options are explored. The most important might be whether to use an Intel or AMD CPU. There are nuances here that make comparisons non-trivial. But the book does offer benchmarking suggestions. Perhaps the main point here is that an AMD CPU is often (always?) cheaper than an Intel CPU that gives comparable performance.

Memory is somewhat easier to compare. The main memory vendors have standardised on a few formats. But even here, the book delves into what Double Data Rate RAM means, and why DDR2 is considered faster and better. You are warned that if you choose an AMD CPU, then currently it can only take DDR.

The book covers more topics, of course. But the above might be the most significant, and they give some idea of the type of advice offered. It assumes that you will have to spend money, and it shows how to do this wisely.

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent Book, March 24, 2006

By 

H. Cohen (Denver, Co) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Build the Ultimate Gaming Machine (ExtremeTech) (Paperback)

Excellent book. It really helped me in my first PC build. Thorough description of all aspects of Building a PC. Excellent description of component selection. Great step by step guide to the PC build. A very good overview of post build procedures including: creating floppy boot discs, setting up raid and partitions, installing and setting up drivers, optimizing performance, maintenance, benchmarking, etc. However, the book would have been more useful if it had included a more thorough and extensive overview of Installing Windows.
ExtremeTech also published a companion book called, 'Build the Ultimate Custom PC' which does include a thorough overview of installing Windows, but it's not as thorough (in other aspects) as this book. It would have been nice if ExtremeTech had combined the 2 books into one more complete book. But as it is, Build the Ultimate Gaming PC is the best book that I've read on building a PC and I've read 4. It's relevant to building a PC for any purpose, not just gaming.
I also found a great DIY Guide to Building an AMD Socket 939 PC at HardwareZone.com. It's a little dated (summer 2004) but it's thorough, well written, easy to follow and free.