As someone who is fascinated by articles like this one, but doesn't have a background in CE/EE, any recommendations for literature/classes I could take so that I can better understand the topics being discussed?
I very much recommend Agner Fog's Microarchitecture. It's a rather ponderous tome, but it is quite simply the definitive resource on the actual design and performance of real-world x86 CPUs.
It does have a brief introduction on some of the basic execution fundamentals but then it jumps right in, so you will probably need some external introduction if you are not generally familiar with the topic.
A computer architecture class. For books, [1] is what you will probably use in any decent computer architecture class, and [2] is a good read from a more general audience perspective, if a bit dated.
For a good high-level introduction aimed at technical readers who aren't CompEs, I suggest Jon Stokes "Inside the Machine: An Illustrated Introduction to Microprocessors and Computer Architecture". It's a readable and reasonably in-depth explanation of how a modern processor works without going into the level of detail that a full-blown computer architecture textbook would.
Charles Petzold's "Code: The Hidden Language of Computer Hardware and Software" is also well regarded, but is aimed more at non-technical people.
It's a good mix between high-level and highly-detailed.