My view (based on a lot of RISC research) is that this isn't a meaningful question. As computer architect John Mashey said: there are CPUs for which RISC/CISC i

My view (based on a lot of RISC research) is that this isn't a meaningful question. As computer architect John Mashey said: there are CPUs for which RISC/CISC is probably not a very relevant classification, such as older CPUs or embedded processors or specialized ones. Tortuous arguments about whether a 6502, or a PDP-8, or an IBM 360/44, or an XDS Sigma 7, etc are RISC or CISC do not usually lead to great insight.