John Mueller - Build Your Own PC on a Budget

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This book is dedicated to my agent, Matt Wagner. Over the years, Matt has inspired me to expand my horizons and have a bit of fun while doing it. One of the reasons Ive written so many different kinds of books is because Matt is always there to encourage and to present some scathingly brilliant ideas.

J ohn Paul Mueller is a freelance author and technical editor. He has writing in his blood, having produced 98 books and more than 600 articles to date. The topics range from networking to home security and from database management to heads-down programming. Some of Johns current books include one on Python for beginners and another about MATLAB. His home security book discusses all sorts of hardware issues, including the installation of various sensors. Johns technical editing skills have helped more than 63 authors refine the content of their manuscripts. He has provided technical editing services to both Data Based Advisor and Coast Compute magazines. During his time at Cubic Corporation, John was exposed to reliability engineering and has had an interest in probability ever since. Be sure to read his blog at http://blog.johnmuellerbooks.com/.

When John isnt working at the computer, you can find him outside in the garden, cutting wood, or generally enjoying nature. He also likes making wine, baking cookies, and knitting. When not occupied with anything else, John makes glycerin soap and candles, which come in handy for gift baskets. You can reach him on the Internet at

T hanks to my wife, Rebecca. Even though she is gone now, her spirit is in every book I write, in every word that appears on the page. She believed in me when no one else would.

I extend a special thank you to Pegg Conderman for shooting all the photographs you see in the book. She did an amazing job and worked hard to get just the right shot. The book wouldnt be nearly as good without her diligent efforts.

Matt Wagner, my agent, deserves credit for helping me get the contract in the first place and taking care of all the details that most authors dont really consider. I always appreciate his assistance. Its good to know that someone wants to help.

A number of people read all or part of this book to help me refine the approach, test scripts, and generally provide input that all readers wish they could have. These unpaid volunteers helped in ways too numerous to mention here. I especially appreciate the efforts of Russ Mullen, Eva Beattie, Glenn A. Russell, and Austin Jonas, who provided general input, read the entire book, and selflessly devoted themselves to this project.

Finally, I would like to thank Michael McCabe and the rest of the editorial and production staff.

B uilding your own PC might seem like a truly horrid idea in a day when computers have become commodities and you can get a decent setup for a song. However, thats not what building your own PC is all about. When you build your own PC, you decide what capabilities it provides, what the quality of the components will be, precisely how the system is configured, and how it looks when you turn it on. A truly custom PC is a work of art, a wonder, an amazement, and something others will envy when they see it. Most importantly, your custom-built PC will do precisely what you want it to do, when you want it to do it.