In article <365EFB8E.F137BDB3@usit.net>, Lewis Sellers <lse### [at] usitnet>
wrote:
> Spider wrote:
> > Hmm... That has anything to do with RISC instructions ???
> > While alpha have reduced the number of instructions, intel has
increased... ttt..
> > //Spider
> Most likely so. Intel seems to be going the route of adding more
> "proprietary" instructions to their chips in an attempt to control the
> market. The effect is their processors are getting more complex, but it
> is complexity for complexities sake -- not for increasing their
> processing power.
> I think this is starting to backfire on them somewhat.

   Alphas have very accelerated clocks but it doesn't translate directly
to efficiency- it's sort of like they are in a lower gear revving away
like mad.

   PPCs have simpler instruction sets and an emphasis on a kajillion
registers, all general-purpose, and though they run a bit slower than x86
clock-wise they depend on the fact that they're easier for a compiler to
optimize for (less special cases and fancy tricks that aren't generally
useful, more registers which are more adaptable)

   :)


   Chris Johnson
         @airwindows.com
   chrisj

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