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Original post by helpo
What is the difference between a RISC processor and a Pentium processer? And there was a big add for the XBox in PCGamer, and i thought it said that it will have a 10gig hard drive, but i just read on-line that it will have a 8gig hard drive, how big is the hard drive?

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CISC(Complex instruction set computers) processors like pentiums, athelons, etc have huge #s of instructions for every purpose. On the other hand, RISC(Reduced instruction set computers) processors have few instructions but can run them faster than comparable CISC processors. I remember a minicomputer, pdp-something, that had only 8 instructions! I don''t pretend to be a hardware expert so I can''t tell you about the pros/cons of RISC/CISC except that the transmeta crusoe is an amazing chip as it dynamically translates Intel CISC instructions into their own (probably risc) instruction set.

If they don''t install the games on the hard drive (which would defeat the purpose of consoles), then 8gb is more than enough for saved games. (Sorry I''m not a console kind of guy)

Intel chips (and compatable) are neither CISC nor RISC...but somewhere in between. The idea behind a RISC chip is that the proc can specialize on a small set of commands...so it''d be faster when those commands are used correctly. The problem with ruducing the instruction set means that more instructions have to be issued to accomplish the same tasks...but theoretically if you can make those instructions fast enough it''ll outweigh the higher count. Intel (et al) took the middle road, heavily optimizing the basic instructions, and including an extended instruction set for anyone that wants to use it.

The only reason I''m considering an X-Box over my computer is because of my Home Theater system. The X-Box will have an Optical out for real-time Dolby Digital 5.1 surround sound....and since I can''t afford to re-create my living room setup near my computer....that''d be some bad-A gaming.


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