Assembly Language for Intel-Based Computers (5th Edition)

10 thoughts on “Assembly Language for Intel-Based Computers (5th Edition)”

1. Review by Jeremy J. Baker for Assembly Language for Intel-Based Computers (5th Edition)
   Rating:
   I have read a lot of programming text books, but I have never seen so much errata before. My fellow classmates and I are amazed at the amount of errors.

   It all started early with the book claiming that George Bool invented the Analytical Engine, instead of Charles Babbage.

   We also wonder if the author just cranks out new editions and just adds a few things and doesn’t update the rest of the book. It took me awhile to figure out the solution to an assignment, right out of the book, that didn’t compensate for newer processors(or any processor in recent history). Actually it seems like it hasn’t been changed for 7 years or longer or it’s just plain errata. So, I was wondering for a long while why my programming assignment would not work. I finally figured out the book was the reason. Later on there was a programming exercise that required adding to existing code in the book, but when adding lines, it would not work. I would get jump too far errors.

   This book could use some better organization too. Simply putting related things together in a chapter is not enough. Yes there is an index and appendices, but the organization in the chapters is poor. Better explanation would be great too.

   I guess I am just spoiled by Deitel’s books. They are great. Too bad they don’t have one on x86 Assembly.

   This book was supposed to have a cd-rom disc, but I don’t think anyone got one. I sure didn’t. The files on the cd-rom are required for the programming assignments to work. Luckily you can download the files off the web site. If you figure out that the files might be on the web site and you go there.

   Finally, the binding is weak, I had to re-glue mine within a couple of weeks of receiving a new copy. My professor complained about the binding too. It’s too thin(or something) to hold up.

2. Review by V. Coetzee for Assembly Language for Intel-Based Computers (5th Edition)
   Rating:
   Having written many 8086 assembly language programs many years ago, and after having used PPC and SPARC chips for a number of years, I decided to purchase this book to refresh my knowledge of Intel assembler. I was very disappointed in the contents of this book. The title would suggest that the subject matter covered relates to writing Intel assembly language perhaps in a platform agnostic manner, however the book should rather be titled “Assembly Language USING MASM for Intel based computers RUNNING WINDOWS”. The book does not even seem to acknowledge that there are other OSs apart from Windows that run on Intel based machines, and also makes use of features and peculiarities of the MASM assembler. If you are looking for a text that will assist you in writing assembler using MASM for Intel based machines running Windows then this is it, otherwise stay well clear, and try to find a text that is less partisan.

3. Review by Kevin for Assembly Language for Intel-Based Computers (5th Edition)
   Rating:
   I bought this book as it was the textbook for a class I was taking at the local community college. I found it to be helpful in learning about the Intel Assembly Language. The material is presented well and it has examples in the book as well as additional materials and study information that you can get from the author’s web site. I’ve spent over 27 years writing software in various languages (FORTRAN, C/C++, JAVA and 4 different assembly languages) but Intel Assembly language was new to me. The information I was looking for specifically was how I could use the knowledge of Intel Assembly to help me debug problems in C/C++. The information and explanations in the book of the different language and Windows calling conventions was particularly helpful in that regard. Ever have a problem with the stack and tried to figure out what happened?

   I don’t know of any other books on this topic but this one seems to be one of the best as it has been adopted by colleges and unversities.

   Some of the descriptions/explanations are a bit off from what we use in the software industry but you can figure out what the author meant. One area is how the stack is depicted in the book. It’s upside down from what I am used to seeing (ie. the top of the stack is depicted at the bottom of the illustration).

4. Review by W Boudville for Assembly Language for Intel-Based Computers (5th Edition)
   Rating:
   A little surprising that no reviews have already appeared on this 5th edition. The previous editions have been some of the definitive texts on the subject and the author is quite well known.

   Anyhow, if you have used an earlier edition, much remains unchanged. Intel has gone to great expense to make its microprocessor family largely compatible as each new generation is released. Here is a thorough description of the assembler commands. Giving examples of how to use each. Along with brief assembler programs that illustrate ideas in a chapter. There are generous numbers of section review questions for the student to tackle.

   Plus, how C commands are translated into Intel assembler instructions is gone into at great depth. Takes the mystery out of how compilers work. You can follow the mapping from C-level structures to how they are implemented.

   Perhaps surprisingly, there is considerable discussion of MS-DOS. You might have thought it was safely dead and gone. But MS-DOS still is present in many legacy applications. For some jobs, you need to know this stuff.

5. Review by Wuping Xin for Assembly Language for Intel-Based Computers (5th Edition)
   Rating:
   Kip’s book is an excellent book suitable for textbook purpose as well as table-reference. If I could I would give it 10 stars.

   The way the author progresses the material makes it very easy to follow, and very enjoyable to read.

   There is no CD comes with the book. But you can freely download the Visual Studio 2005 Express Edition from Microsoft website.

   I have another book, Assembly Language Step-by-step: Programming with DOS and Linux (with CD-ROM) by Jeff Duntemann (Paperback – May 24, 2000). Comparing to Kip’s book, that book is almost like a joke (no doubt for Jeff’s expertise or authority on Assembly language but the way he put stuff in the book makes you feel somewhat stupid).

   Get the book, and enjoy the beautiful binary world with Assembly!

6. Review by None for Intel Core i5 750 Processor 2.66 GHz 8 MB LGA1156 CPU I5-750BOX
   Rating:
   Incredible processor for the money. Absolutely the best bang for buck CPU on the market right now. I laughed when this thing opened Photoshop in a couple of seconds. It eats anything in its path and blitzes through games. As a test, I opened about 20 applications (including Photoshop with it’s heavy memory requirements) and switched quickly between programs in order to try and trip the CPU up. While I did this, I was playing music from a playlist of several thousand songs, painting/editing an image in PS, and most importantly, running Windows XP in a virtual machine inside Windows 7. 1GB RAM was dedicated to XP, along with 64MB of graphics memory. Would you believe it, there was no lag. Awesome.

   I’m using it with a Gigabyte GA-P55 UD3R board, 2 x 2GB Patriot Viper II ‘Sector 5’ 1600MHz RAM, and Samsung’s (latest) Spinpoint F3 hard drive (model HD501HJ). OS is Windows 7 32-bit. The whole thing runs beautifully! Just a heads up — Windows 7 32-bit will only use 3.5GB RAM. No use buying more than 4GB in a 32-bit environment, and you need to make sure you buy RAM that will run at 1.65V or less. Do your homework before buying.

   Had this thing doing 4GHz on the stock cooler with just a minor bump in voltage, mainly just to see how well it overclocks and scales with voltage increases. No complaints at all. The cooler will definitely be replaced as soon as funds permit. The stock Intel cooler is abysmal. I would not recommend anything but a minor OC using it. The cooler to buy for this CPU is the Prolimatech Megahalems, which isn’t cheap, but those looking for superior performance need look no further. The Megahalems is the best choice.

   Dynamic overclocking using Turbo Mode is excellent. The stock multiplier for the 750 is 20x. Using a Gigabyte P55 board, the multiplier goes as high as 24x when dynamically overclocking. Power consumption at idle during light tasks such as web surfing and playing music is fantastic. According to Everest, it uses just under 7 watts at idle. I feel this is an important point considering the current state of the economy. Any saving on electricity bills is worth thinking about unless you have money to burn. My sweet spot seems to be 148 BCLK (2.94GHz). At this speed, the CPU is able to dynamically overclock up to around 3.5Ghz and then lower the multiplier down to 9x when idle, which of course lowers the frequency, which of course means lower electricity bills.

   Thanks, Intel, for making a great processor at a reasonable price. An i7 system running on X58 chipset would have cost a lot more. I wasn’t prepared to pay the price because I am not a fool. I am more than happy with the i5 750, it’s a very impressive CPU that should serve anybody well for a good few years.

7. Review by N. Ye for Intel Core i5 750 Processor 2.66 GHz 8 MB LGA1156 CPU I5-750BOX
   Rating:
   Love this I5-750. It’s fast and cool. It runs under 50C under load in turbo @3.2G. Overclocked to 3.8g with stock heatsink. Convert video and play HDTV with ease.

   Need to be careful with the selection of DDR3. Initially paired with A-Data 2x2G and had random blue screens. Changed to Corsair XMS3 CMX4GX3M2A1600C9 and problem solved.

   Stock heatsink is on the small side, but it did get the job done.

8. Review by Robert Beleckis for Intel Core i5 750 Processor 2.66 GHz 8 MB LGA1156 CPU I5-750BOX
   Rating:
   I bought this processor at another store. It was an egg-culent price. With a good board, which you can get for under $140 (Asrock Extreme P55), you can easily overclocking this CPU and get it to do 3.7GHz in turbo (using 153 BCLK frequency for me)which matches the top of the line Lynchfield processor and blows away the Clarkfield processors. Get a nice cooler (Artic Freezer Pro II). My i5 750 does not go above 62C in stress tests which is where you want it. Idles at 25-31C. Don’t let memory bottleneck you. Get some 1600mHz DDR3 dual channel (for the price can not beat G-Skill 4G 1600). Tweak it in Bios to get from 1333 to around 1600. I get 7.7 memory in Windows 7 experience index. Your biggest bottle neck will be the hard drive. If you don’t want to go Raid 0 then get a 10,000 RPM but I got a fast 7,200 HD (WD 640 Caviar Black gets 101mB/s versus 55mB/s of others).

   Note that this upgrade path may be a dead end since Intel is not planning on making any faster chips for this socket. I don’t care. In a few years the Intel sandy bridge tock chip design is coming up and then all current processors will be old news.

   This CPU will do everything you want fast and efficient. It is a pleasure to start up my computer and work with such a responsive chip.
   

9. Review by M. Jacobson for Intel Core i5 750 Processor 2.66 GHz 8 MB LGA1156 CPU I5-750BOX
   Rating:
   This processor is part of a ground up gaming build that I’ve done and upon completion this little baby rocks. It is very fast and will quickly prove itself as something incredibly difficult to bog down. I don’t think that I have been able to push this processor to its limits yet and believe me I’ve tried. I wouldn’t waste your money or time considering a faster 1156 processor unless you have *EVERY* possible bottleneck accounted for. Believe me you won’t be dissapointed.

10. Review by Christopher Pike for Intel Core i5 750 Processor 2.66 GHz 8 MB LGA1156 CPU I5-750BOX
    Rating:
    Let me just get this out of the way from the beginning. I’m a gamer and for me I’m always looking at upgrades that will improve my gaming performance the most. Never, ever have I seen such huge improvements in my gaming framerates as when I decided to get a new cpu, motherboard, and ram combo. I had purchased a Radeon 5970, which I have also reviewed on here if your interested in reading that, hoping that would be the biggest improvement to my gaming. It turns at that although it was good, it was being held WAY back due to my last-gen setup. I’ll post the old and new ones now.

    Old

    Intel Core 2 Quad Q9400 @ 2.4ghz
    
    4GB DDR2-800 memory
    
    Radeon 5970

    New

    Intel Core i5 750 OC @ 4.0ghz
    
    4GB DDR3-2000 memory
    
    Radeon 5970

    This processor is insane. Even at the stock cpu settings my framerates were better than with the Q9400. I then OC’d it to 4.0ghz using Corsair’s H50 water cooler to keep it around 34c at idle. During normal gaming use my temps stay in the 36-46c range most of the time. I rarely see the temps exceed 52c max while gaming. Only during an Intel Burn Test running all four cores at 100% load did I see temps hit 68c. I even have all my fans on the lowest settings. I am using 1.34vcore and 1.23v vtt right now as well, which is probably higher than it needs to be. I could lower these temps even more by reducing the voltage, so I may try that later on.

    My gaming framerates have doubled now just by upgrading from a Q9400 and DDR2-800 memory to this i5 750 and DDR3-2000 memory. This is such a great processor and one I highly recommend over anything else right now. Check out benchmarks all over the net and you will see that when this processor is OC’d to match the i7’s, it can hang with those and even beat them out in some games for framerates.

Comments are closed.