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The Pentium: A CISC

Architecture

Shalvin Maharaj
CS 147
11-09-04
 Contents
• What is CISC
• History: CISC
• CISC
• Advantages of CISC
• Disadvantages of CISC
• RISC vs CISC
• Sources
 What is CISC?
• CISC stands for Complex Instruction Set
Computer
• CISC takes its name from the the very large
number of instructions (typically hundreds)
and addressing modes in its ISA.
 History: CISC
• The first PC microprocessors developed
were CISC chips, because all the
instructions the processor could execute
were built into the chip.
• Memory was expensive in the early days of
PCs, and CISC chips saved memory
because their programming could be fed
directly into the processor.
 History: CISC
• CISC chips were improved mainly by
adding more instructions to the processor
design. This also meant that programming
changed with new CISC designs. CISC
designs grew complex and somewhat bulky
 History: CISC
• Because the price of hardware was
decreasing and the price of software was
increasing. Researchers decided to take the
burden off of the software and use the
hardware to do all the dirty work. The idea
was to make the job easier for the compiler
by having more instructions that were like
high-level language statements.
 History: CISC
• If this was done it would be easier to write
compilers and code would be smaller so it
would save RAM
 Examples of CISC Processors
• Examples of CISC processors are
• VAX
• PDP-11
• Motorola 68000 family
• Intel x86/Pentium CPU’s
 CISC
• CISC takes its name from the the very large
number of instructions (typically hundreds) and
addressing modes in its ISA. To accommodate
this variety of instruction complexities, CISC
instructions are of varying lengths (often ranging
from 8 - 120 bits).This is as opposed to RISC
which has a fixed instruction set.
 CISC
• The varying length is used to reduce wasted
space but there is a disadvantage which
follows.
• Variable length instructions are more
difficult to process, so CISC chips require
many more transistors than comparable
RISC designs.
 CISC
• This increase in transistor count has obvious
implications for the issue of power
dissipation, which is central to mobile
computing.
• The increase in transistor count also makes
it more expensive to produce CISC chips.
 CISC
• The complexity of CISC also makes it more difficult
to pipeline than RISC, which again increases the
required processor logic and, hence, transistor count.
• And CISC chips are relatively slow (compared to
RISC chips) per instruction, but on the other hand
uses little (less than RISC) instructions.
 CISC
• Due to the increase in transistor count and
obvious issue of power dissipation Mobile
Pentium III introduced a new power
management facility.
• This was called SpeedStep. SpeedStep
detects the power source(wall socket or
battery) and adjusts the processor's clock
speed and voltage accordingly.
 CISC
• For example when a computer is powered by
AC mains current it runs at full speed (650 MHz
depending on the model)and full voltage. But
when a battery is used the clock speed is
reduced to 500 MHz and the corresponding
voltage is decreased. This gives the Mobile
Pentium III a distinct advantage over processors
that can reduce only their clock speed.
 Advantages of CISC
• CISC has varying lengths to reduce wasted
space in memory.
• Has developed a process to manage power
which adjusts clock speed and voltage.
• Uses less instructions to perform similar
instructions than RISC
• Provides programmers with assembly
instructions to do a lot with smaller programs.
 Disadvantages of CISC
• CISC chips are relatively slow (compared to
RISC chips) per instruction.
• CISC chips require many more transistors
than comparable RISC designs .
• Harder to pipeline using CISC architecture.
• Expensive to produce.
 RISC vs. CISC
• RISC vs. CISC is a topic quite popular on
the Net. Everytime Intel (CISC) or Apple
(RISC) introduces a new CPU, the topic
pops up again.
• Most PC's use CPU based on CISC
architecture. For instance Intel and AMD
CPU's are based on CISC architectures.
 RISC vs CISC
• Many claim that RICS is the architecture of the future.
• But even though RISC has been in the market since 1980,
it hasn’t managed to kick CISC out of the picture, some
argue that if it is really the architecture of the future it
should have been able to do this by now.
 RISC vs CISC
• Typically CISC chips have a large amount of
different and complex instructions. The philosophy
behind it is that hardware is always faster than
software, therefore one should make a powerful
instruction set, which provides programmers with
assembly instructions to do a lot with shorter
programs.
 RISC vs CISC
• On the other hand by making the hardware simpler,
RISC puts a greater burden on the software. Software
needs to become more complex and Software developers
need to write more lines of code to perform similar
tasks. But by doing this RISC architecture takes the
burden away form the hardware resulting in an increase
in performance(mainly speed).
 RISC vs CISC
• There is still considerable controversy among
experts about which architecture is better. Some
say that RISC is cheaper and faster and therefor
the architecture of the future. But because of the
burden placed on software some argue that
RISC is not the architecture of the future. And
conventional CISC chips becoming faster and
cheaper isn’t helping RISC claim supremacy.
 RISC vs CISC
• The answer isn't quite that simple. RISC
and CISC architectures are becoming more
and more alike. Many of today's RISC chips
support just as many instructions as
yesterday's CISC chips. The PowerPC 601,
for example, supports more instructions
than the Pentium.
 RISC vs CISC
• Yet the 601 is considered a RISC chip, while
the Pentium is definitely CISC. And today's
CISC chips use many techniques formerly
associated with RISC chips.
• So simply said: RISC and CISC are growing to
each other.
 Sources
• http://ouray.cudenver.edu
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CISC
• http://groups.engr.oregonstate.edu/tlc/v2/Co
mponent_Summaries/cpu/cpu_how_works.
html
• http://friday.editthispage.com