Differences between X86 architecture and Arm architecture

  X86 architecture and ARM architecture are two mainstream CPU architectures. X86 architecture CPU is the leader in PC server industry, while ARM architecture CPU is the leader in mobile terminal. X86 architecture and ARM architecture are actually the difference between CISC and RISC. Many users do not understand the difference between them. In fact, they are in different fields and have different pursuits.

• Differences between X86 architecture and Arm architecture

1. Pursue difference:

X86 mainly pursues performance, but it will result in high power consumption and is not energy-efficient, while ARM pursues energy conservation and low power consumption, but its performance is inferior to X86.

2. Different fields:

ARM is mainly used in mobile terminals, such as mobile phones and tablets, while X86 is mainly used in PCs such as Intel and AMD, and X86 servers.

3. Different in nature:

X86 uses CISC complex instruction set computer, while ARM uses RISC reduced instruction set computer.

4. Differences between CISC and RISC

CISC is a complex instruction set CPU with many instructions, which makes the CPU circuit design complex and power consumption high, but the corresponding compiler design is simple.

RISC's reduced instruction set CPU has fewer instructions and consumes less power, but its compiler design is very complex. The key lies in the pipeline operation that can complete multiple instructions in one clock cycle.

• X86 VS ARM

The X86 architecture is a computer language instruction set executed by a microprocessor. It refers to a standard number abbreviation for an Intel general-purpose computer series and also identifies a set of general-purpose computer instructions. X86 refers to a series of CPU instruction set architectures based on Intel 8086 and backward compatible.

Intel used to name processors in the digital format of 80x86 in the early days, including Intel 8086, 80186, 80286, 80386, and 80486. Because it ends with "86", its architecture is called "x86". Since numbers cannot be used as registered trademarks, Intel and its competitors use registrable names for their new generation processors, such as Pentium, Core, and Ryzen (launched by AMD).

The 32-bit architecture of X86 is generally called IA-32, which stands for "Intel Architecture, 32-bit". Its 64-bit architecture was first introduced by AMD and was called "AMD64". It was later adopted by Intel and called "Intel 64". It is also generally called "x86-64" or "x64".

It is worth noting that Intel also launched the IA-64 architecture. Although the name is similar to "IA-32", the two are completely incompatible and do not belong to the x86 instruction set architecture family. The broad x86 architecture refers to Intel and AMD CPUs that support x86 and x64 architectures, but does not include ia64 (Itanium).

The ARM architecture, formerly known as Advanced RISC Machine and earlier Acorn RISC Machine, is a 32-bit RISC processor architecture. There are also derivative products based on ARM design, important products include Marvell's XScale architecture and Texas Instruments' OMAP series.

The ARM family accounts for 75% of all 32-bit embedded processors, making it the most common 32-bit architecture in the world.

ARM processors are widely used in embedded system design, with low power consumption and energy saving, and are very suitable for the field of mobile communications, consumer electronic products, such as portable devices (PDAs, mobile phones, multimedia players, handheld electronic games, and computers), computer peripherals (hard drives, desktop routers), and even military facilities such as missile-mounted computers.

With the growing demand for data centers, the competition for core chips is becoming increasingly fierce. ARM has entered the server market. The area of ​​a single ARM core is only 1/7 of that of an X86 core, and more cores can be inherited under the same chip size. Through the "stacking core" method, ARM architecture processors can maintain low power consumption while rapidly improving performance. According to data provided by Ampere, the performance of its CPU exceeds that of traditional x86 processors by 3 times, and the performance-to-power ratio is nearly 4 times higher. Compared with x86 server CPUs, the Ampere Altra series can use 50% of the energy consumption and provide 200% of the performance.

In recent years, with the rise of ARM architecture, many giants have begun to develop their own ARM architecture server chips, including Amazon, Google and even Microsoft abroad, and Tencent, Huawei and others in China are actively involved.

Qualcomm, which once failed, seems to be trying to enter the server chip market again. Last year, it acquired chip startup Nuvia, which was founded with the goal of building high-performance ARM server chips.

ARM's server chips have three major target markets: cloud computing, HPC and edge computing.