4 ms·
The smallest load/store the original Alpha ISA supported was 32 bits. :-)
by ahoka 2y ago
The smallest load/store the original Alpha ISA supported was 32 bits. :-)
- jnwatson 2y agoLikewise with the Texas Instruments C40 DSP. sizeof(char)==sizeof(int) in that case, both representing 32-bit values.
- PaulHoule 2y ago... and it's not just the overhead but also that a memory update on just part of a "word" is not atomic which is a problem for a multiprocessor machine but also for a single processor machine which is multitasking if there isn't some barrier to stop the process from being interrupted between the read and the write.
- yencabulator 2y agoDown that road, I'll argue that the smallest load/store any modern CPU can do is a cacheline.