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> i386 is not representative

Would it matter if it had better code density? "Modern" doesn't necessarily mean that it is better in every aspect. For example, there were articles claiming that same application compiled to 64 bits uses more memory than 32-bit version.

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It wouldn't matter. I still would not buy an i386, compile my programs in 32-bit mode instead of 64-bit, nor use the i386 ISA as a model when designing a new ISA.

Same thing with 6502, Z80, Vax, etc.

What matters is performance, and i386 code does not give as good performance as x86_64 code or modern RISC code (it doesn't have as many GPRs etc so it can't).

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