2 ms·
The 6502 could perform 8-bit operations, but had a 16-bit address space. Hence the C64 (= 2^16)
by ArnoVW 7y ago
The 6502 could perform 8-bit operations, but had a 16-bit address space. Hence the C64 (= 2^16)
- rbanffy 7y agoBy that reasoning, the Apple II is a 16-bit computer and the original Mac a 24-bit one.
- duskwuff 7y agoAnd by that same reasoning, modern x86 computers are either 48-bit or 52-bit, depending on which limit you consider.
- vardump 7y agoAlternative reasoning would say modern x86 computers are 128-bit (SSE, most memory buses are this wide), 256-bit (AVX, some memory buses) or 512-bit (AVX-512). The thing is, you can't really use any single factor to determine CPU bitness. Not memory bus width, ALU width, register width, physical address width, etc.
- rbanffy 7y agoWe usually settle with the size of an integer register, which, in modern x86's, is 64 bits. In the case of the 6502, it'd be 8. Susy, the coprocessor used for the Lynx, was not the CPU running the show and I don't think it was able to run its own standalone programs (that claim I need to check).