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posted by
LaminatorX
on Friday February 21 2014, @05:33AM
from the I-don't-care,-I'm-still-free.-You-can't-take-the-garage-from-me dept.
from the I-don't-care,-I'm-still-free.-You-can't-take-the-garage-from-me dept.
demonlapin writes:
"Brian Benchoff at Hackaday has an ambitious new project: a homebrew computer based not on a classic 8-bit processor like the Z80 or 6502, but on the 16-bit Motorola 68000. It's a backplane-based machine with wire-wrapped connections planned. His first summary post is here. Blinkenlights are planned."
[ED Note: With so much commercially available hardware getting more and more locked down, projects like this are a good reminder of what is possible for a dedicated enthusiast.]
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Homebrew 68000-based Computer Build
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(Score: 1) by darinbob on Friday February 21 2014, @11:47PM
While it did not have 8 bit instructions it did have many 16 bit instructions. However for comparison with other CPUs it was considered very compact for its time. 8-bit only machines do often have smaller code, however this is often because the application itself has much more limited use. Ie, to add two 32-bit numbers on an 8-bit machine will take more bytes of instructions than it would on a 68000.
8-bit computers were really restricted to hobbyists, calculators, peripherals, and stuff like that. Professional general purpose computers at that time were commonly using 16, 32, or even 36 bit CPUs.