Satisfy your inner geek, and learn something in the process. The following websites are worth taking a look at before you make your next major hardware purchase:
Computer Hardware Websites

• TomsHardware.com. Probably the best single hardware website out there, run by a German guy. Very good mobo studies here, along with anything else that they like.
  
• AnandTech.com. More fun hardware reading.
  
• AcesHardware.com. Another one that's been around a long time, well worth a look.
  

Computer Hardware Readings

• The Great moments in microprocessor history. The history of the micro from the vacuum tube to today's dual-core multithreaded madness.
  
• SandPile.org. The world's leading source for pure technical x86 processor information. Just what you were looking for, no?
  
• The Free Lunch Is Over: A Fundamental Turn Toward Concurrency in Software. Excellent article on current processor development, well worth a read if you're wondering why processor speeds have stopped doubling every 18 months.
  

Hardware Specifications

• SerialATA.org. Home of the Serial ATA specifications. In case you're wondering, standard IDE drives are PATA, parallel ATA.
  
• www.ata-atapi.com. This is a great site, filled with all the information, faqs, and whatever else you want to know about what makes hard drives tick. Learn what ATA, SATA, IDE, DMA, UDMA, and all those other fun terms actually mean. If only all sites were this good.
  

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