我在 1990 年代第一次制造了一台计算机。在那些日子里，你必须是一个认真的极客才能尝试它，因为没有任何东西是预先配置的，而且你不得不对那些带有微小图纸和说明的手册感到困惑，因为这些小图纸和说明假设你对这个过程的了解比你真正了解的要多得多。您必须设置许多微小的跳线才能让您的主板工作，并希望您购买的组件兼容。如果有书在那些日子里给出清晰的分步说明，我不知道它们。从那时起，构建计算机变得容易得多，但这并不意味着不需要全面的指南。这就是为什么我对打造完美电脑第三版(Building the Perfect PC, Third Edition)寄予厚望的原因. 如今，构建自己的计算机并不困难（或仅适用于极客），并且有一本好的指南在您身边，这应该是几乎每个人都可以做到的事情。这本书是我要找的吗？
从头开始
作者从介绍开始，表明他们不仅对自己作为作家的技能充满信心，而且对阅读本书的人也充满信心。整本书的侧边栏中很少有评论，使文本阅读起来更有趣（并让读者了解作者的想法）。虽然我对我最不喜欢的大卖场之一获得大量页面空间这一事实(page space)并不(really)感到疯狂，但我必须承认，这是一家美国(USA)大多数读者可能无需太多就能找到的商店麻烦。
这本书的既定目标是教读者，即使是没有经验的读者，如何做出正确的选择，并根据他们的需要构建合适的计算机。但除此之外，目标是教读者选择背后的过程。它不仅仅是一份购买清单和一份组装指南(assembly guide)。我喜欢这种解释，因为一旦你理解了过程，你就会有信心为自己做事。
前两章设定了场景。作者解释了为什么构建自己的计算机是一个好主意，并提供了在开始之前您应该手头有的工具和软件的完整列表。他们解释了可能出错的事情以及读者可以做些什么来防止这些事情发生。我认为这部分对于以前从未构建过计算机的人特别有用。我总是喜欢在开始之前知道我要面对什么。
然后是需要的组件列表，其中包含具体的建议和关于如何购物、如何购买以及注意事项的出色说明。关于购买处理器的部分特别好。我喜欢他们的评论：
“大多数人花太多时间犹豫要安装哪个处理器。唯一真正重要的决定是要花多少钱。做出决定后，它真的归结为小细节。”
提出此类具体硬件建议的主要问题是技术变化如此之快，以至于这些建议几乎在本书上架时已经过时。Building The Perfect PC, Third Edition是 2011 年版权所有，这意味着他们所写的所有组件现在都是去年的技术，读者只能弄清楚现代的等价物是什么。如果有一本书需要一个持续更新的网站，那就是它，但不幸的是，没有提到类似的东西。
构建系统
由于人们的需求和可花费的资金数额各不相同，因此作者描述了构建几种不同类型的系统所需的条件：Budget、Mainstream、Extreme、Media Center和Appliance/Nettop。每个系统的章节包括以下内容：确定功能要求、硬件设计标准(Determining Functional Requirements, Hardware Design Criteria)和组件考虑(Component Consideration)。之后，每一章都有一个丰富的插图指南，用于构建各种系统，并附有构建过程(construction process)中每个步骤的精美、清晰的照片。无论(Regardless)他们描述的是哪种系统，每个步骤都被描述和说明，因此构建者可以准确地看到需要做什么。
不过，再一次(Again)，他们做出的选择非常具体，而且这些东西很快就会过时。今天购买这本书(book today)的人很可能无法找到完全相同的组件。我认为大多数人将能够根据他们手头的组件推断和调整照片，但主流系统(Mainstream system)除外，它基于一个非常特定的计算机机箱(computer case)，用于一个作者家中非常特定的办公地点。(office location)在我看来，这太有限了。在一本为公众设计的书中，主流系统(Mainstream system)应该更加主流。
令人惊讶的是， Extreme 系统(Extreme system)并非针对铁杆游戏玩家。作者的观点是，大多数游戏玩家将使用专用游戏机而不是增强型计算机。这让我很吃惊，因为我认识的游戏玩家虽然也有游戏机，但他们仍然使用电脑。Building the Perfect PC, Third Edition中的Extreme 系统(Extreme system)专为视频编辑和“科学数字计算者”使用而设计。作者想要速度和可靠性，并选择了顶级组件，而该系统显然以高昂的(speed and reliability)价格(price tag)告终（3500 美元，不包括外围设备）。我不确定这种系统的市场情况，或者它的价格标签(price tag)，但值得一读这一章，看看那些真正想要权力的人有哪些选择。
我也不确定他们的媒体中心系统的(Media Center system)目标受众(target audience)是什么。（好吧，好吧，我还在看旧的CRT，所以我不能很好地判断这些东西。） 🙂 作者在本章开始时说他们为本书第一版构建的“媒体”PC并没有得到太多使用，最终被拆开来制造其他计算机。对我来说，这并没有激发对本章其余部分的信心。他们也不太热衷于使用 PC 录制电视节目（可以理解，考虑到DVR(DVRs)现在的工作情况）。他们的目标是为集中式媒体存储和卓越的显示和声音构建一些东西(display and sound)，他们解释了为什么商业上可用的“媒体中心”系统的价格过高。为了获得最大的收益，他们确信构建自己的系统是必经之路。我希望他们从一开始就对这些系统更加乐观。
Appliance/Nettop system是为低噪音、小尺寸和可靠性(size and reliability)而设计的预算系统(budget system)，用于非常特定的应用，例如家庭服务器(home server)、网络附加存储系统(storage system)或家庭自动化控制器(home automation controller)。在许多人的系统列表中可能并不高，但本章中的信息对于在常规设置中寻找这种小型且不显眼的补充的人来说很有价值。如您所料，Home Server 是一个在设计时考虑到可靠性和海量存储能力(Home Server)的(storage capability)系统。
这是建设者的理想参考吗？
老实说，我很难决定对这本书的评价，尽管总的来说我非常喜欢它。这是我考虑的：
临：(Pro:)
- 由明确知道自己在做什么的作者撰写的清晰易懂的文章
- 任何第三版的科技书籍显然都对读者有价值
- 优秀的比较图表和组件描述
- 每个构建中每个步骤的清晰彩色照片(color photographs)
- 广泛的计算机说明，可满足几乎任何人的需求和预算
- 考虑到新手和经验丰富的建设者，不会低头或使用技术语言
缺点：(Con:)
- 特定的设备清单意味着这本书很快就会过时
- 为满足作者的需求而构建的系统，不一定是普通观众的需求
- 没有更新和新建议的网站(web site)
- (Software)仅针对Media Center的(Media Center)软件推荐，然后仅针对Ubuntu Linux（一个不错的选择，但不一定是每个人都想使用的）
判决
构建完美的个人电脑，第三版(Building the Perfect PC, Third Edition)是一个有价值的参考，它在教读者如何构建计算机方面做得非常出色。对于新手来说，拥有它可能会极大地增强信心。(confidence booster)但它是否适合每个人就无法判断了。如果您认为自己是知识渊博的类型，那么确定这本书是否适合您的最佳方法是先从图书馆借阅（或者可能从有合理退货政策(return policy)的书店获取）然后自己阅读。我个人觉得它写得很好，有趣且内容丰富。
如果你读过这本书，我很想听听你的意见。请(Please)发表评论并告诉我您的想法。
Book Review - Building the Perfect PC, Third Edition
I bυilt a computer for the first time in thе 1990s. In those days you had to be a serious geek to attempt it, because nothing came pre-configυred and you had to puzzle оver manuals with tiny drawings and instructions that assumed you knew far morе about thе process than you really did. You had to set а lot of tiny jumpers to get your motherboard tо work, and hope the components you bought were compatible. If there were books available that gave clear, step by step instructions in thoѕe daуs, І didn't know about them. Since then it has gotten a lot easier to build a computer, but that doesn't mean there is no need for a comprehensіve gυide. This іs why I had high hoрes for Building the Perfect PC, Third Edition. Building your own computer is not difficult (or only for geeks) these days, and with a good guidebook by your side, it should be something nearly everyone can do. Was this book what I was looking for?
Begin at the beginning
The authors start out with an introduction that shows they have a lot of confidence not only in their own skill as writers but also in the people who read the book. There are little comments in the sidebars throughout the book that make the text more entertaining to read (and give the reader a feel for how the authors think). While I'm really not crazy about the fact that one of my least favorite big-box stores gets a lot of page space, I have to acknowledge that it's a store that most readers in the USA are likely to be able to find without much trouble.
The book's stated goal is to teach the readers, even inexperienced readers, how to make good choices and build the right computer for their needs. But beyond that, the goal is to teach the reader the process behind the choices. It's not just a list of things to buy and an assembly guide. I like this kind of explanation, because once you understand the process, you gain confidence in doing things for yourself.
The first two chapters set the scene. The authors explain why building your own computer is a good idea and provide a thorough listing of tools and software that you should have on hand before you start. They explain the kinds of things that might go wrong and what the reader can do to keep those things from happening. I think this part would be especially useful for someone who's never built a computer before. I always like to know what I'm up against before I begin.
Then there's a list of components that will be needed, with specific recommendations and excellent instructions on how to shop, how to buy, and what to look out for. The section on buying a processor was especially good. I liked their comment:
"Most people spend too much time dithering about which processor to install. The only really important decision is how much to spend. After you make that decision, it really comes down to the minor details."
The main problem with making such specific hardware recommendations is that technology changes so rapidly that those recommendations are out of date almost by the time the book hits the shelves. Building The Perfect PC, Third Edition is copyright 2011, which means that all the components they wrote about are now last year's technology, and the reader is left to figure out what the modern equivalents would be. If ever a book cried out for a web site with ongoing updates, this would be it, but unfortunately there is no mention of anything like that.
Building the systems
Since people have widely varying needs and amounts of money available to spend, the authors describe what's needed to build several different kinds of systems: Budget, Mainstream, Extreme, Media Center, and Appliance/Nettop. Each system's chapter includes the following: Determining Functional Requirements, Hardware Design Criteria and Component Consideration. After that, each chapter has a lavishly illustrated guide to building each kind of system, with excellent, clear photographs of each step in the construction process. Regardless of which kind of system they're describing, every step is described and illustrated so the builder can see exactly what needs to be done.
Again, though, the selections they make are very specific, and those things get dated fast. It might very well be that someone who buys the book today would not be able to find exactly the same components. I think most people will be able to extrapolate and adapt the photographs to the components they have on hand, with the exception of the Mainstream system, which is based on a very specific computer case for a very specific office location at one author's house. That's overly limited, in my opinion. In a book designed for the general public, a Mainstream system should be far more, well, mainstream.
The Extreme system is not, surprisingly, aimed at hardcore gamers. The authors' opinion is that most gamers will be using dedicated game consoles rather than beefed-up computers. This surprised me, since the gamers I know still use computers even though they also have game consoles. The Extreme system in Building the Perfect PC, Third Edition is designed for use by video editors and "scientific number-crunchers." The authors wanted speed and reliability and chose top of the line components, and that system obviously ended up with a serious price tag ($3500 excluding peripherals). I am not sure what the market is for this kind of system, or for its price tag, but it's worth reading the chapter just to see what kinds of choices are out there for people who really want power to spare.
I'm not sure what the target audience is for their Media Center system, either. (OK, fine, I'm still watching an old CRT, so I'm not a good judge of these things.) 🙂 The authors started this chapter by saying that the "media" PC they built for the first edition of the book didn't get used much and was eventually taken apart to build other computers. To me this did not inspire confidence in the rest of the chapter. They're also not very enthusiastic about using a PC to record TV shows (understandable, given how well DVRs work these days). Their aim was to build something for centralized media storage and superior display and sound, and they explain why the commercially available "media center" systems are overpriced for what they deliver. To get the best bang for the buck, they are certain that building your own system is the way to go. I wish they'd been a little more upbeat about these systems from the get-go.
The Appliance/Nettop system is a budget system designed for low noise, small size and reliability, for use in very specific applications such as a home server, a network-attached storage system or a home automation controller. It's probably not high on many people's lists of systems to build, but the information in the chapter is valuable for people looking for this kind of small and unobtrusive addition to their regular setup. The Home Server is, as you might expect, a system designed with reliability and massive storage capability in mind.
Is this the ideal reference for builders?
To be honest, I had a hard time deciding on a verdict for this book, even though overall I liked it very much. Here's what I took into consideration:
Pro:
- Clear and easy-to-understand writing by authors who definitely know what they're doing
- Any tech book that's in its third edition has obviously proved valuable to the readers
- Excellent comparison charts and descriptions of components
- Clear color photographs of every step in every build
- Extensive instructions for computers to suit almost anyone's needs and budget
- Written with both novices and experienced builders in mind, doesn't talk down or use technobabble
Con:
- Specific equipment lists means the book will go out of date quickly
- Systems built to suit the authors' needs and not necessarily those of a general audience
- No web site for updates and new recommendations
- Software recommendations only for the Media Center, and then only Ubuntu Linux (a great choice, but not necessarily what everyone wants to use)
The Verdict
Building the Perfect PC, Third Edition can be a valuable reference and it does an outstanding job of teaching the reader how to build a computer. Having it on hand could be a great confidence booster for a novice. But whether it's suitable for everyone is impossible to tell. If you consider yourself the knowledgeable type, the best way to decide whether this book is for you is to check it out from the library first (or possibly get it from a bookstore with a reasonable return policy) and read it for yourself. I personally found it well-written, interesting and informative.
If you have read this book I would love to hear your opinion. Please leave a comment and tell me what you thought of it.
