Looks like people have been there before: https://code.google.com/p/mao/wiki/NOPIN https://code.google.com/p/mao/wiki/NOPIN The real question is whether any o

Looks like people have been there before: https://code.google.com/p/mao/wiki/NOPIN https://code.google.com/p/mao/wiki/NOPIN The real question is whether any of these compiler heroics are actually any good or serve any purpose other than killing time and curiosity. No one knows how "optimized" NOP'ped code will fare on post-i7. A modern Intel CPU is the most complex proprietary trade secret in the world. That's all Intel wants us to know.