Computer Architecture: A Designer's Text Based on a Generic RISC

The book is an exceptionally clearsighted introduction to the topic of RISC. With many lookbacks on existing processors the authors weighs the pros and cons on almost every aspect of the design. I especially enjoyed the lengthy discussions of what an operating system (unix in this case) expect from the hardware and how the two cooperate in the best possible way. It's discussion on different file systems does not directly have a bearing on the RISC architecture but fits in very snugly in giving a most complete general overview of a computer system. There's more to it than a good processor.Read it! You'll learn a lot - not only about RISCs - but also what has driven hardware designers in the microprocessor industry for decades.

Good introduction of RISC CPU design. This book illustrates some of the architectural trade offs that real designers make when introducing a new CPU architecture. I especially like the fact that the authors went into great detail about the software and hardware aspects of the CPU design.