Defender of the Crown on the IIgs

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blakespot says:

I see someone added the tag "16-bit." The IIgs features a 65C816 processor that was 16-bit INTERNALLY, but had an 8-bit data bus. So to the rest of the system, it's an 8-bit processor. I wrote in to Retro Gamer magazine about this and detailed it at my blog.

Just as the Amiga 500/1000/2000 are 16-bit machines with processors that are 32-bit internally.
Posted 21 months ago. ( permalink )

luisescaja says:

It's strange, but I have never seen anybody refer to the IBM PC or XT as 8 bit computers, even if the Intel 8088 processor they are based on has an external 8-bit bus (and is in many ways more limited than the 65816 or the 68000). If the original IBM PC is a 16 bit machine, then the Apple IIgs is 16 bit, too, and the Commodore Amiga, Atari ST and Apple Macintosh are 32 bit.
Posted 20 months ago. ( permalink )

blakespot says:

@luisescaja: Exactly right. If the PC or XT, based on the Intel 8088, are "16-bit" machines then one would have to call the IIgs a 16-bit computer and the Amiga, Atari ST, and original Mac 32-bit machines.

Early on, Apple referred to the Mac and Lisa family, collectively, as the "Apple 32 SuperMicro" family, obviously going for the 32-bit angle on the 68000. Marketing. Maybe Sega should've called the Genesis (with a 68000 at its core) a 32-bit gaming machine... They seemed happy to (loudly) call it 16-bit. But that raises another interesting point. The Genesis and its core competitor, the SNES, were the "16-bit generation" of consoles. But...the SNES was based on the 65C816! So Sega let Nintendo get away with calling the SNES 16-bit while it refrained from calling the Genesis a 32-bit console.

I could go on all day. But people would probably stare.

At any rate, yes, the 2.8MHz 65C816 in the Apple IIgs is about twice as powerful / fast as the 4.77MHz 8088 sitting in the early PC/XTs. And the 7.8MHz 68000 from the original Mac is notably more powerful, still. The Z-80 might be the only mainstream process of the day that was less efficient!

There I go again - you got me blogging in my Flickr comments. :-\
Posted 20 months ago. ( permalink )

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Defender of the Crown on the IIgs

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blakespot says:

luisescaja says:

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