Best way to learn hardware?

[notix]

I know the Windows OS very well... and I know many different kinds of software programs. But, when someone asks me a hardware question, I freeze. What is the best way to learn computer hardware? By experiementing? Reading? By asking Bill Gates for a million dollars (I've really thought about that)?



Thanks!

[Brian]

Well, it all depends. You could get a book and learn that way, but I find learning from experience much better, although it will take longer. Next time you need a new computer, build it your self.

[DnD]

its what i'm doing...i'm building my mom's computer for her ;D

[knucks]

Experience is probably the best way, although you can burn and brake things..heh :roll:

[T-shirt]

Both reading and experimenting. you can gain alot of general knowledge reading forums and books, The experimenting is learning to apply it.
Don't play with anything you arn't willing to replace

[knucks]

yes, what he said. if you don't know how to take off a heatsink off of a cpu, dont. you will probably just crush the cpu.

[DnD]

hehe my dad's gonna make sure i don't break a thing ROFL

[notix]

I will probably buy a book, read some, and then start building a computer. I have the pdf for this book 'Upgrading and Repairing PCs - 10th Edition' and I have started reading it and it has been very helpful. But I am thinking about buying the book... can anyone suggest a good book?



thanks again

[knucks]

What exactly do you want to read about?

[notix]

Just more about the computer, and how it works... the hardware, different type of HD's, RAM (I know a little about SIMM and DIMM)... more of that kind of stuff... I've read 1000 page computer books on PHP, Perl, C++, and I'm reading one on javascript to fill in some holes at the moment... I'm not afraid to do a lot of reading ;)

[brbubba]

Although diving in headfirst and getting your hands dirty is always a great way to learn, I would err on the side of caution. If you were one of those kids who liked to take apart stuff and was interested in the nitty gritty, then I would say you may have a natural aptitude for this, and go right ahead. However, not everyone is going to be able to learn this.

For instance, I knew computer hardware instinctively, just like I knew the Mac OS and Windows. However, when it comes to things like programming or running Linux from the command line only, then I am up shits creek. No matter how much I study or learn that stuff I will never be completely proficient at it. Warranted I can learn and know enough to get around, but becoming a guru would be virtually impossible.

So basically if you don't feel immediately comfortable, read your books, and take it slow. The last thing you would ever want is to fry your entire system. In that same vein accidents will happen, even to the best of us. In those cases just hope that frying that motherboard transistor didn't have a catastrophic effect.

Also, I would recommend staying away from books that are too detailed. For instance, you don't need to know the differences in technical specifications between an AMD Athlon XP and a Pentium 4. All you really need to know is how their real world performance compares, what chipset they need, etc.. You don't really need to know how much L2 cache they have or what their transistor count is, etc. If you are interested, by all means go ahead, but knowing the minutiae of any piece of hardware is why we have engineers that make the stuff in the first place. Some facts are only going to convolute what you really need to know about the hardware.

And lastly, have fun.

[notix]

First of all, that was very informative, thank you!

The last thing you would ever want is to fry your entire system.

I agree... I sound like the opposite of you... lol

Let's just say I am very cautious. I understand price value, and if I pay 2 grand for a pc, or even 1 grand for that matter, the last thing I want to do is mess something up.

I grew up with those little electronic kits, and wires and everything... so I know my electronics and stuff. I can probably actually buy stuff and put together a computer. But I don't want to do a 'half-ass' job, I want to know what I am not. A lot of people say they know what they are doing, but in reality, they are only plugging in parts and probably have no idea what the part does... (I have observed this).

I will probably buy a book at good old Barnes and Noble pretty soon... or read this PDF if I ever have time, its a very good PDF file...


Thanks!

[knucks]

The thing with building your own pc, is that it isn't that hard. If you want to see how a pc works and is put together, open up your current pc, and look at all the cables. Then, by finding guides and what not, you can see which cable does what, and then you'd have enough information to build something simple like a single cpu pc with 1 optical drive and a hard drive.

[ELiTE KiLLaH]

1st thing to do, open up your computer and look at it
remeber, dont touch, just look ;)

to build a computer it doesnt take a genius
just someone who can reason "hey, this looks like it fits in this" and thats it

if you can figure out how those slot puzzle piece games work you can figure out how to put to gether a computer (most often, only one type of thing will fit in one slot)

2nd, when you buy the motherboard, read thef reaking manual
i dunno how many times ppl ask me "whats wrong, my cpu is only at 1150mhz but it should be at 1533mhz cuz its an xp1800+??"

to make sure you dont do that same thing, make sure you know what the operating cpu frequency for each processor, or at least the one you are going to buy, is.

if its an amd cpu, take the fsb and divide by 2 for cpu freq
for p4's, divide it by 4

make sure you get hardware that supports the stuff you want to put in it
ie, dont get an 800mhz fsb p4 with an i845 chipset ;)

get a list of basic stuff you want, and research them

ill tell you frankly, if you asked me ANYTHING regarding computers maybe 3yrs ago i didnt know jack shit :oops:

i spent COUNTLESS (i mean countless as in when i should have been studying for quizz's, tests, finals, doing hw, i was reading forums lol), hours at many forums just reading...reading...readnig...reading....asking... .reading...asking...you get the idea

my recoomendation to you is to skip over the books for the most part and just go to some forums, like this, and ask questions...read shit...etc

forums.anandtech.com
www.hardforum.com (good site, full of newbies like yourself last time i checked, but some ppl who know their shit still post there at times so you can learn lots there)

[knucks]

yes, hardforums.com is a good place to get help. :D

[Kurtis]

:shock: Blasphemy!

So is our forum...

[ELiTE KiLLaH]

lol
i dint mean that as in "this forum scks, go there instead"
:P

but its just that that place is huge, so thers tons more problems and stuff to read about and their solutions

whatever you dont get, ask here then heh ;)
or go to www.extensiontech.net and then forums (linked with MHW) and we'll help you there too (shameless plug :twisted: )

[Kurtis]

lol. :P

[knucks]

haha..enough with the plugs, or i shall be forced to show my site, bwahahaha :twisted:

[notix]

Yea, I know where to 'plug' in pieces... I can do that, but I am afraid of something shorting out another thing... or maybe putting the wrong things together (hardware) that will mess up each other... this can happen right? As for your 'read' idea, I will read... and post questions... but I want another comp to experiment with, not this one.... i have a few in my closet, but they are old, but I'm sure they are fine... As for your idea of reading instead of studying I disagree :P Thanks a lot though!


Thanks again...

[Rich]

Read the specs. Try to get around the marketing. That is the hardest part. :?

[nark]

Just more about the computer, and how it works... the hardware, different type of HD's, RAM (I know a little about SIMM and DIMM)... more of that kind of stuff... I've read 1000 page computer books on PHP, Perl, C++, and I'm reading one on javascript to fill in some holes at the moment... I'm not afraid to do a lot of reading ;)

are you any good at programming there notix?

btw. One of the best ways to learn is to ask questions. And what better place to ask questions is this forum. You can learn a lot from books, but the specifics are a good deal harder to learn. GL with the hunt for knowledge.

[Rich]

Unfortunately one of the best ways to learn is to fail. With computer parts, that can get expensive. But if you can gather enough people with single failures into one place (this forum), you can have thousands of dollars worth of failure at the touch of a button! :lol: And all without losing any of that hard earned cash.

[deftno9]

This is more for advance users as they gointo some heavy stuff like processor architecture and theory but nevertheless a wealth of information at http://arstechnica.com/ (no strangers to the comp enthusiast community) and if ur having comp problems check out www.computing.net ..that is if you can find the answers here 8)

[Cabot_Teg118]

Wow, Ars Technica is a great site, thanks for the link.

I think I'm gonna be up for a couple more hours now :D

[ELiTE KiLLaH]

i learned my stuff from alot of places
[H] being the biggest

just lurk around...read lots...ask qeustions...if u see a "help me!" thing...read it, to see hte problem and the solution...and learn it...lol

[MaNiAk21]

It pretty much all came naturally to me, I am one to be able to look at something and theorize pretty acurately how it works and I've been doing that for a few years and I know more than many people, but less than many more. :oops: :)

[handrail]

yeah, what KILLAH said.

good to see you posting, killah, where you been?

i'm the same as KILLAH, didn't know shizz about computers 3 years ago, now i have built several systems and have overclocked a bit too.

find a friend who knows and pick their brain.

[ahicktech]

I started out on apple and early IBM computers. Thats the best way to learn...then progress to the new stuff. teaching yourself on old computers is better then messing up a new one.

[Sapphire9800]

lets first start off with the amount of information that is avaible on the internet. Hardware in general is not something to ask for help on.. The best way to learn hardware is to play with hardware. So because your question is so general i can only give u links...

Computer Hardware Links — A VERY BIG list of computer hardware links…be prepared to spend hours here
http://users.erols.com/chare/hardware.htm

PC Mechanic — PC Hardware, software and troubleshooting…Excellent!
http://pcmech.pair.com/

Build Your Own PC — Excellent guide from Tom's Hardware Guide
http://www6.tomshardware.com/howto/20020904/

Hardware Central — Everything you need to know about computer hardware, including building your own PC
http://www.hardwarecentral.com/

Virtual Driver — Need a driver for your computer?…this is the best way to find one
http://www.virtualdr.com/drivers/

Driverzone.com — Another great place to find any kind of hardware driver
http://www.driverzone.com/index.html

Tom's Hardware Guide — If you are having problems with your computer, then you'll have to try this site
http://www.tomshardware.com/

The PC Guide — Everything you wanted to know about your PC, and more…fascinating!
http://www.pcguide.com/

FreeAnswers.com — Don't know how to use your software? Try this site
http://www.freeanswers.com/

PC Technology Guide — Excellent site with nice illustrations
http://www.pctechguide.com/

[ELiTE KiLLaH]

yeah, what KILLAH said.

good to see you posting, killah, where you been?

i'm the same as KILLAH, didn't know shizz about computers 3 years ago, now i have built several systems and have overclocked a bit too.

find a friend who knows and pick their brain.

was uber busy with school at first
then with workin 12-13 hr shifts/day
n then getting wasted on the weekends haha :)

but now things are back to normal for the most part
im still around
starting up again posting...cuz imma really bored lol...n might as well help some guys out in the process if i can

[cabe]

If you were one of those kids who liked to take apart stuff and was interested in the nitty gritty, then I would say you may have a natural aptitude for this, and go right ahead.
ooh i love to take stuff apart!! right now i've just finished disassembling a mini-fridge. i've removed the compressor and am trying to look around and find the heat load this thing can handle b/c i would really like to make a phase change system to cool say ethanol to pump around a watercooling circuit to pelted waterblocks on my cpu and gpu :-D. actually i'm not sure if i want to pelt the gpu... but i DO want to pelt the cpu. i guess it all depends on how much heat load the thing can handle, seeing as i want to cool my NB with it too....