Offers programmers and design engineers a detailed explanation of how all the different elements of a PC work individually and collectively, covering such items as motherboards, floppy and hard drives, mass storage, and more.

From the Back Cover

This fully revised and popular book is now up-to-date and even more comprehensive than before. The Indispensable PC Hardware Book 4/e will be 'indispensable' to anyone who wants to know more about the inner workings of a personal computer: from programmers who want access to hardware components; professionals and home-users who wants to or has to understand the structure and functioning of a personal computer; to users who want to up-grade their PC's, and dealers who wish to advise their customers--this book will provide the solution to all your hardware questions. Even beginners should not shy away as this book begins with an easy introduction to the subject area.

Key highlights:

CPU's from the 8086/8088 to the Pentium III and Athlon
Real, protected and virtual models
Windows and plug&play devices
CPU Clones from all major manufacturers
Chipsets and support chips
Timers, interrupts and DMA
I/O programming and PCI bus programming
AGP variants and graphic systems
Universal serial bus
Local storage from the diskette to DVD
Memory systems, SDRAM, EDO, flas, RAM bus, and modules
Extensive glossary which explains most of the terms and concepts related to personal computer hardware.
Appendices brimming with practical advice, especially for programmers.