> In fact, it’s now a universally accepted truth that RISC is better than CISC! > Is that actually true? I'd like to see some actual numbers comparing RISC vs.

> In fact, it’s now a universally accepted truth that RISC is better than CISC! > Is that actually true? I'd like to see some actual numbers comparing RISC vs. CISC performance/power consumption. While I realize you intended your question about the latter part ("that RISC is better than CISC"), I'd say the prior part ("universally accepted truth") is absolutely, unequivocally not true. Just last weekend [1] I heard Yale Patt (a relatively Big Name in computer architecture) refer to RISC as something like "a hiccup that lasted 20 years" -- a slightly less than flattering description. Not saying I necessarily agree with him, but agreement is far from universal. There are plenty of other examples as well; see http://portal.acm.org/citation.cfm?id=1506661.1506667 http://portal.acm.org/citation.cfm?id=1506661.1506667 for one I came across recently. [1] Incidentally, at the same event I also met an Intrinsity chip-design engineer who said his company was in the process of being acquired, though at the time he didn't mention it was by Apple...