The computing world today is in the middle of a mobile clients and cloud computing have emerged as the dominant paradigms driving programming and hardware innovation today. The Fifth Edition of Computer Architecture focuses on this dramatic shift, exploring the ways in which software and technology in the cloud are accessed by cell phones, tablets, laptops, and other mobile computing devices. Each chapter includes two real-world examples, one mobile and one datacenter, to illustrate this revolutionary change. Updated to cover the mobile computing revolution Emphasizes the two most important topics in architecture memory hierarchy and parallelism in all its forms. Develops common themes throughout each power, performance, cost, dependability, protection, programming models, and emerging trends ("What's Next") Includes three review appendices in the printed text. Additional reference appendices are available online. Includes updated Case Studies and completely new exercises.
Hennessy and Patterson have a lot of great numbers and facts in the book, which help ground the theory of computer architecture in reality. There's an excellent mix of content-driven chapters and helpful appendices. The only thing holding this book back from a perfect review is the heavy and obvious bias towards their own MIPS architecture, when in the modern world greater attention to x86 would probably have been more helpful.
Arguably one of the most in depth and thoughtful books on computer architecture I have ever had the pleasure to read. A book I keep coming back too. Chapter 2 Memory Hierarchy and 6 Warehouse-Scale Computers are must reads. Highly, highly recommended.