Introducing the First AnandTech Book: The AnandTech Guide to PC Gaming Hardware

For the past four years I've been writing almost constantly; somewhere along the line I lost all sense of what it feels like not to write. Luckily the topics I've been writing about are topics that I'm genuinely interested in, things I enjoy talking about and things I would be talking about even without AnandTech.

Over the summer I decided to take on a little side project, something I've never done before, something a bit more challenging. The idea that was presented to me was the idea of writing a book. It would be a book that would deal with some facet of computer hardware but after spending the past four years of my life enjoying the benefits of the new online media, would I really want to deal with the frustrations of working with print media? After all, when online it's easy to edit mistakes, you've got essentially unlimited space to get your point across and deadlines are very flexible. The same can't be said about the world of hardcopy however I decided to do it, just to try something new.

I spend every day on AnandTech talking to the broadest group of people possible that share a common interest in computer hardware and technology. With over 2 million readers it's difficult to make a single recommendation for everyone to follow; most of the things I write affect people differently depending on what their interests are. A review of the latest offerings from ATI and NVIDIA will mean higher frame rates to a gamer but it'll also mean new features such as multi-monitor support to an IT professional. With my first book, I wanted to talk to a small subsection of the crowd I normally address in my articles.

Three months and over 500 pages later I was done with my first book and it is with great pleasure that I introduce it to you all as The AnandTech Guide to PC Gaming Hardware. I take much pleasure in introducing this book to you all because of the time I put into it and honestly because I wanted the book to actually be something. I could have very easily hired a ghost writer to put a bunch of reviews in a book but how helpful would that be? My goal with this book wasn't to take the website and turn it into a quickly outdated book, rather it was to help bridge the gap for those that are honestly interested in the technology and your hardcore AnandTech reader.

Click to Enlarge

The AnandTech Guide to PC Gaming Hardware doesn't explain the basics of computing that you can get in any introduction to computers class, it explains the basics of the hardware and technology that you can't get anywhere else. There are certain assumptions made in AnandTech articles and those are that you have an understanding of how the architecture of many of the things we talk about works. I can't explain Front Side Buses and Latency over and over again every time I use the words, nor can I go into great detail about how things like Ethernet and Monitors work. This book is designed to be a tool to help bridge the gap between those that want to learn and those that already know.

If you can follow all of the AnandTech articles and understand not only what goes into your PC but how those components work, then this book isn't for you. If you don't know absolutely everything and if you have a desire to learn then this book is perfect for you.

Although the title has the word gaming in it, the gaming focus is only used as a way of getting around the problem of having to talk to a wide variety of users. The base knowledge covered in the book is all the same and applies to gamers and IT professionals alike. I diagram the choices someone looking to further their knowledge in how PC architecture and hardware can benefit a gamer but the underlying information is universal.

To find out more about the book or to place an order for it you can visit our Amazon.com store. There you will not only be able to purchase The AnandTech Guide to PC Gaming Hardware but you'll also be able to read through the table of contents and see related products.

As usual, I appreciate the support you all have given me with AnandTech over the years and I hope you all enjoy this book. Who knows, maybe next Summer I'll give the whole book-writing thing another go :)