Good guidebook to computers?

[Wolfdale75]

Hi Guys,

I've just started studying for the CompTIA A+ exams and I'm looking for a good book on computers. I'm finding the A+ textbook is great for stating various facts and explaining (often long-windedly) how each separate part works but says very little about how the system works as a WHOLE. Alot of the stuff is waffle and quite a lot goes over my head the way it is explained.

What I am looking for is a guide to computers - hardware, software and OSes, the lot - that explains not only how each part works and interacts with the others but how the PC functions as a single unit.

The book needs to be fairly rudimentary (at least while it introduces concepts) but non-patronizing to the reader. I'm looking for a good base to build on.

I'm looking for something that explains in plain language which a FSB is, what memory timings are, what hyperthreading is, how cache works, how DDR works, what the BIOS and CMOS are, how the PC boots, what causes OS errors, how the OSI model works, how TCP/IP works, how multicores work, what is 64-bit, how USB works etc. You get the point. And how all these systems function together to make a working PC.

I'm looking for something that starts off with the basics (i.e. how PCs have always basically worked) but is up-to-date enough to include things like USB 3.0, SATA 6Gbps, multicores, DDR3, PCIe 2.0 (or 3.0, even better), 802.11n, Win 7 (or 8, even better), SSDs, so a book revised within the last couple of years should do it.

I know there is the For Dummies series, but I'm looking for something preferably in full colour and the For Dummies series also tends to address specific issues such as Maintenance and Troubleshooting or Upgrading your PC. Not how PC hardware and software works and interacts.

Is there such a book/guide out there?

Any decent recommendations gratefully received

 

[Wolfdale75]

PS - I know generally what makes for a good system (see my sig - OK I need to upgrade my GPU and monitor), I just want to know how the whole thing works

 

[evilsofa]

I'm going to sound terribly lazy suggesting this, but is Wikipedia not good enough for this?

 

[Wolfdale75]

I'm going to sound terribly lazy suggesting this, but is Wikipedia not good enough for this?

Not really, no. It tends to either give too much technical detail or not enough and I don't think it offers the complete picture I am looking for in simple terms.

Plus it doesn't have enough diagrams...

But I think I may have found the solution with this book:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/How-Compute...1401701896&sr=1-1&keywords=how+computers+work

This is from 2007, but apparently a new edition is appearing this December. Should have all the latest gadgets and standards in it