RISC vs. CISC Processor
- All computer processors work by completing operations--usually mathematical or logic-based. Each processor operation has a command associated with it. In RISC design, each command generally has the processor perform a single operation, while a CISC command might result in several consecutive operations being performed.
- The goal in processor design is to produce products that are more powerful than the competition. The RISC design philosophy argues that to produce the most powerful processor, an uncomplicated processor that can scale up to high clock speeds will be more efficient--and thus, faster--than a processor that is more complicated and operates at lower clock speeds.
- Your home is likely to have many devices with RISC-based processors. Devices using RISC-based processors include the Nintendo Wii, Microsoft Xbox 360, Sony PlayStation3, Nintendo DS and many televisions and phones. However, x86 processors--those found in nearly all of the world's personal computers--are CISC. This is a limitation born of necessity; adopting a new instruction set for PC processors would mean that all the software used in PCs would no longer function.
- Although x86 processors are CISC-based, some designs for x86 processors have blurred the lines between CISC and RISC, by breaking standard x86 instructions into smaller bits to execute them more efficiently.
- PC users have long been unwilling to adopt a new processor architecture that would render all their existing software unusable. However, the future of home computer processors may lie in RISC-based design, exactly as server processors have. When these processors eventually move away from the x86 architecture currently in use, it is possible that the first processors with RISC-based designs will maintain x86 functionality to ease the transition--perhaps by incorporating two complete processors in the same package.
Identification
Goal
RISC in the Home
Blurring the Lines
Speculation
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