I just noticed that the current edition is a revision of the one I bought from Amazon! Having said that, I'd be surprised if the quality and wisdom changed materially, and here is what I mean.
Using Thompson's book, I've built with both of my children the Home Theater PC and the Gaming PC. Both work like a champ. I'd add that much like the way the Thompson's structure each chapter, determine what you need, making a list, constructing the CPU, and what the outcome was: was our experience as well. Sometimes, the available parts just aren't. Sometimes there are driver issues and conflicts that you don't expect and it's not as though the Thompson's can know everything before the book was printed.
Some one whined a bit about the website in another review. I'd counter that with the affirmation of those who are in forum answer questions that are placed on the bottom shelf for novice builders like my family, as well as answer some truly arcane questions for advanced builders and hardware developers! That the website has "dated material" regarding hardware might be a no-brainer, but asking questions in the forum will quickly provide anyone with updates regarding anything related to hardware, drivers, and known conflicts between components.
In the build of the HT PC, we started out with an ASUS board that was (I think) recommended. But, the Plextor DVD wasn't recognized in the install. My daughter and I searched far and wide for a solution. One of the many responses to our post in the forum came in an answer from Robert Thompson, who provided the options for us regarding solutions.
The book possesses the same kind wisdom and availability to any builder from Thompson. He passes along some advice about what you can get away with in a build regarding tools-I won't disclose that secret- and just some "watch-out's" that will keep your build from becoming accidentally expensive, e.g., trying to insert the processor with the wrong orientation or incorrect application of the heat transfer paste to the processor. I'm likely to buy this new edition for the next build.
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