Just thought that I would point out that the Intel Manuals are currently available for order for free (they weren't available in the recent past) I just ordered them, hopefully I'll be able to get something out of them
http://developer.intel.com/design/pe...als/index2.htm
Away.
Whats the catch?
They must be making money off of me some how....
Thanks for the link.
Does AMD have any out at the moment? (Other than PDF) All I found on their site was 3DNow Instruction Sets.
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I got AMD's manuals maybe 6 - 8 months ago for free.Originally posted by Xei
Does AMD have any out at the moment? (Other than PDF) All I found on their site was 3DNow Instruction Sets.
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All of Intel's manuals are available either for download or you can order the books.
Sometime ago I ordered the books for MMX, SSE, SSE2, IA-32, and IA-64 Itanium. Very nice to have.
SSE, SSE2 are included in the new IA-32 Instruction Set Reference as well as MMX. But there is a very small MMX technology manual that I have as well that is geared specifically to just MMX.
And, no, Intel is not making money off of you. They are extremely forthcoming with their technology and extremely generous to programmers/developers. AFAIK all of their resources from their literature center have always been free - and you don't even have to be an established developer to get them.
AMD's are only available online in PDF form. But there is not a lot of diff between AMD and Intel - just don't use the SSE and SSE2 instructions from the IA-32 on an AMD CPU and you should be ok. I have yet to find one instruction that I normally use that does not work on both CPUs.
:edit: Excecpt for the CPUID instruction which has caused some major headaches in the past. AMD has lots of information on how to detect CPU type/speed/model etc on their website. If you use the CPUID instruction it will not behave as you think on an AMD and its likely you will crash the system.
Hm...I've used it (although not to actually identify the chip) and it hasnt crashed my program or the systemOriginally posted by Bubba
:edit: Excecpt for the CPUID instruction which has caused some major headaches in the past. AMD has lots of information on how to detect CPU type/speed/model etc on their website. If you use the CPUID instruction it will not behave as you think on an AMD and its likely you will crash the system.
Hmm.
I know that some early code that used the CPUID on an AMD would crash. Perhaps that has been fixed.
CPUID wasnt always supported on all chips....maybe the crash was an invalid opcode on a non supporting chip....
i would like to mention these are not teach me asm books...
and most of you will get these books because they are free and then let them rot on your shelves
and as cozman so clearly explained not so long ago...
Originally posted by cozman
Before anybody orders any of these please heed my advice, I dont want people disappointed in the books and I dont want valuable resources wasted because of these misunderstandings.
Unless you know x86 ASM and have a real interest/need for reference do not order the books. First of all the AMD books are on advanced stuff about the x86-64, and although the intel books are on the arch. that most of us are running on they are still advanced reference manuals that non-asm people will never use.
These are tech manuals which are generally free, because only a small number of developers need them due to their subject, if everyone goes spreading the word on this as something that will teach ASM the people who really need them may end up having to pay in the future due to tons of people ordering things that they simply have no need for.
By ordering these books without a strong understanding in ASM you are simply wasting trees.
I am trying to emphasize that unless you are already a strong asm programmer these books will not help you, I would not call myself strong in asm, but I can kind of read it and I have seen the content of these books and people with mediocre asm experience will be disappointed and the books with go to waste, I know some people will get these books to "learn" asm, but I wanted to emphasize to people not to do that.
Most of what is described in the books is very specialized reference that even a strong asm programmer will never need, and the small amounts that they do need shouldn't be hard to find online, these books are intended only for those which are working one on one with intel/AMD products, not for the casual developer or even professional developers which are asm hobbyists.
Last edited by ZerOrDie; 08-04-2003 at 11:07 AM.
hah ,thats true!
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Hogwash!!
The books are invaluable resources. And just because more people order them does not mean that Intel will start charging for them. Our piddly little amount of books that we order from this board is not going to induce a policy change over at Intel. Trust me.
These books explain in great detail what is going on at the chip level. Are they advanced? Yes. Are they teach me asm books? No. Do they tell you what each opcode does? Yes, in great detail. So if you have a basic understanding of assembly and need a good asm reference to clue you in on which opcodes to use where - these books will help tremendously. They are not hard to understand and they give you an overall picture of what is happening.
I wholeheartedly disagree with the statement that these books are only free because a few people need them. As well I disagree with the statement that only hard-core asm programmers should get these books. If anything, read them to learn a lot about your CPU - from the guys who designed the thing (AMD as well - but you get the point). Very handy resources and they do not rot on my shelf. Some of the pages in mine are so worn, I'm tempted to order new ones.
Also, if Intel was going to charge for these books why the heck would they put them on their website for FREE download? The logic does not follow - they are not going to charge for these books. It's been their policy ever since I ordered their first 486 books. Great policy from a great company. You can also get a monthly/quarterly? CD from them about loads of different topics and programming issues.
And I might add that the people who really need these books, according to cozman, are companies. It would then be logical to say that these companies could afford to pay for the books - moreso than you or I or any other hobbyist coder. Poor little companies wont be able to afford Intel books because all of us hobbyists caused Intel to charge for the manuals. Poor little companies will be put out of business by you and I. Heh. As if.
I wish more companies were as forthcoming with technical data as Intel/AMD have been - it is very helpful.
Last edited by VirtualAce; 08-04-2003 at 12:06 PM.
No.. just a 'piddly little amount' of coders who are actually interested in assembly won't get any books because of the 'piddly little amount' of users which request them but isn't ever going to use them. Intel as well as AMD only have a limited stock.
I used to own a print shop so I know that ever so often companies re-print their stuff. The cost of re-printing is not that great since all the layout has already been done. And with PDF manuals, re-printing is not necessary. Intel and AMD are not hurting because of us.
