alt Hacker NewsIt's even worse than that.
The ARM Core starts up, does crypto, Loads the SecureOS and the BIOS, then it starts the x86 CPU - In 16 bit mode! Which then boostraps itself through 32 then 64 bit mode.
So in the first couple sends of power on, your CPU is at various points ARM, i386, x86, and x86_64.
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How much overhead (in terms of e.g. transistor count or silicon space) does this add? Surely at most it's a single digit percentage?
> So in the first couple sends of power on, your CPU is at various points ARM, i386, x86, and x86_64
First I'm learning about this and I'm curious why this needs to be the case? Seems so wild that it works this way, but I'm sure there's a logic to it.
This is why Intel wants to remove the 16 and 32 bit modes and make 64 bit only CPUs.
> The ARM Core starts up, does crypto, Loads the SecureOS and the BIOS, then it starts the x86 CPU - In 16 bit mode! Which then boostraps itself through 32 then 64 bit mode.
Well, what if I want to run a 16-bit OS?
Also, I wonder if the transistor count of a literal entire 8086 processor is so small relative to the total that they just do that.
According to https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transistor_count#Microprocesso...:
So you could fit 200,000+ 8086s on that not-so-cutting-edge silicon.