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| Introduction | |
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| Getting to Know Your PC | |
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| The Barebones: The Motherboard, Case, and Power Supply | |
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| Mobo Mojo: Understanding the Motherboard | |
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| A Tour of a Typical Motherboard | |
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| Understanding Expansion Slot Types | |
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| Sizing Up Motherboard Form Factors | |
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| Buying a Motherboard | |
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| The Case Is Your Base | |
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| Buttons, Bezels, and Bays: A Case Parts List | |
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| That's About the Size of It: Case Form Factors | |
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| Case Designs: From Boring to Beautiful | |
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| Going with the Flow: Case Fans | |
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| Buying a Case | |
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| Power to the PC: The Power Supply Unit | |
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| Getting to Know the Power Supply | |
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| Buying a Power Supply | |
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| From Here | |
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| The Brains: The Central Processing Unit | |
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| Intel or AMD?Clocks, Cores, and More: Understanding CPU Specs | |
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| The Processor Family | |
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| The Processor Cores | |
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| The Processor Name | |
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| The Processor Clock Speed | |
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| The Processor Socket | |
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| The Processor Bus Speed | |
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| The Processor L2 Cache Size | |
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| The Processor Manufacturing Process | |
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| The Processor Core Type | |
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| The Processor Market: What's Available | |
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| Keeping It Cool: Fans and Heatsinks | |
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| Buying a CPU | |
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| From Here | |
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| The Work Area: Memory | |
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| What Is RAM? | |
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| Combining Memory Chips Into Memory Modules | |
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| DDR, DIMM, and More: Understanding Memory Specs | |
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| The Memory Module Standard | |
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| The Memory Type and Speed | |
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| Dual Channel Mode | |
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| The Memory Module Capacity | |
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| The Memory Latency and Timings | |
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| The Memory Module Configuration and Pins | |
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| Windows and RAM: The 4GB Conundrum | |
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| Buying Memory | |
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| From Here | |
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| Hard Drives and Other Storage Devices | |
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| Drive Time: How a Hard Drive Works | |
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| Capacity, Cache, and More: Understanding Hard Drive Specs | |
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| The Hard Drive Interface and Throughput | |
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| The Hard Drive Form Factor | |
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| The Hard Drive Capacity | |
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| The Hard Drive Speed | |
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| The Hard Drive Cache | |
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| The Hard Drive Seek Time | |
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| Buying a Hard Drive | |
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| Disc Driving: Choosing an Optical Drive | |
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| The Data's the Things: Optical Disc Capacities | |
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| A Tour of Optical Drive Types | |
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| Speed Is All: Understanding Optical Drive Speeds | |
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| Buying an Optical Drive | |
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| More Storage Devices | |
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| From Here | |
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| Eyes to See and Ears to Hear: Video and Audio Hardware | |
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| Assessing Your Video Card Needs | |
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| GPU, GDDR, SLI, and More: Understanding Video Card Specs | |
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| The GPU Chipset | |
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| Video Memory | |
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| Dual-GPU Support | |
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| Video Card Connectors | |
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| Buying a Video Card | |
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| Bits, Channels, and More: Understanding Sound Card Specs | |
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| The Sampling Frequency | |
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| The Sample Depth | |
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| The Number of Channels | |
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| Sound Card Connectors | |
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| Buying a Sound Card | |
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| From Here | |
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| Getting Connected: Networking Hardware | |
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| Getting Wired: Understanding Ethernet Networks | |
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| 10BASE-T | |
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| 100BASE-T (Fast Ethernet) | |
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| 1000BASE-T (Gigabit Ethernet) | |
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| Beyond Gigabit Ethernet | |
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| Learning about Network Interface Cards | |
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| The Wired Connection: Network Cables | |
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| Twisted-Pair Cable | |
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| Crossover Cable | |
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| A Connection Point for Your Network: The Switch | |
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| Adding the Internet into the Mix with a Router | |
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| Understanding IP Addresses | |
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| The Router and Dynamic IP Addressing | |
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| The Router as Firewall | |
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| The Router as Switch | |
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| A Buyer's Guide to Ethernet Hardware | |
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| Purchasing a NIC | |
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| Purchasing Cables | |
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| Purchasing a Switch | |
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| Purchasing a Router | |
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| Going Wireless: Understanding Wi-Fi Networks | |
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| Understanding Wi-Fi | |
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| Understanding Wireless Hot Spots | |
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| Learning About Wireless NICs | |
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| Putting It All Together with a Wireless Access Point | |
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| Expanding Your Wi-Fi Empire with a Wireless Range Extender | |
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| A Buyer's Guide to Wireless Networking Hardware | |
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| Purchasing a Wireless | |