> There's nothing particularly speedy about the x86 architecture.  The
> only reason those guys get any performance at all out of their
> systems is the amazing process technology which results in huge clock
> rates.  It's still a mid-1970s processor architecture.

And that's why all even vaguely modern implementations of it are
actually RISC CPUs running x86 emulators.

I've often wished to be let at the real metal on a modern CPU.  (Well,
I suppose I can get (close to) that by getting a powerpc or some such.
I guess I really mean "I've often wished I could get a modern cheap CPU
without the performance-crippling x86 emulation layer".)

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