PowerPC emulation on x86 possible?

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One of the aspects of RISC concepts are the fix length instructions. Ever since AMD's K6 processor, it translates variable length CISC X86 instructions into fix length instructions “RISC86” (using AMD's words).

Modern achitectures are now investigating instruction compression. So that traditional "RISC" (ie fix length instruction) CPU's can enjoy the code density of "CISC" (variable instruction length) CPU's.

This makes those "RISC" chips work exactly the same way as the modern x86.... with Variable length instruction in memory decoded into fixed length instruction in the core.

Spooky how cool technology is when you bother to keep up to date.

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@minator

I assure you that running a PPC at the same Clock speed as a Modern x86, will result in a very similar performance.

The chips are simply not that different!!

With out of order execution, then use Register Renaming, which allows for many more registers than architeurally avaiable. I would like to note that many "RISC" designs use Register windowing to limit the numer of Registers that the Programmer can see at any one time...

What you fail to understand is that All CPU designers use the same tricks to achieve speedups...

Oh, and if you want to say that the Alpha stoped being "RISC" at some point, then I would note that the PPC is far less "RISC", than just about any other RISC chip on the planet.

-Edit- "Altivec will out gun a P4" - you really have no clue what you are talking about... ok we get technical... look up instructions per cycle for the Altivec and then look at the instructions per cycle for SEE2 (etc...), then look at how many cycles per second the G4 (~1Ghz, since the) and the P4 (~3Ghz) run at...  please don't be stupid.

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The thing I find most strange about people like Lempkee, is their unrelenting desire to say x86 this and x86 that... and how crap the PC is, etc... then they praise a machine that shares 95% of it's components with a PC (the only difference being the CPU and the Northbridge)!

I have not yet heard a logical and resonable reason not to use the x86 CPU, by the same token I have not heard a good reason not to use PPC. There is no good reason to slag other people off because they have weighed up the pros and cons and chosen one procesor or the other!

I must say that I do feels a strng affinity for the 68K (I grew up with it, I learned to program it, It's my "first love" CPU), but there comes a point when you have to say, "It's no longer useful". CPU's are commodities, they are not special they are homoginising. in 50 years (if we still use them) Microprocessors will all look the same.

I really can't get the idea that Amiga = AmigaONE either... the AmigaONE is just commodity hardware, it's no different to the Pegasos or even a PC... And that is a good thing since we all get to choose what we want, and the hardware isn't dramatically different.

Rant, rant....

To get back to the point, I am as interested to see PPC emulation on the x86 as I am to see x86 emulation on the PPC.

Oh, and before I forget, Lempkee, whay don't Hyperion "certify" a PPC emulator for the x86, that can run OS4... then they could sell more, you really should think before you post.