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Computers · microprocessor

NEC V20

A faster replacement for the IBM 8088 that keeps compatibility while boosting performance, though one tester saw no difference in real applications.

Summarized from 11 comments.

A faster replacement for the IBM 8088 that keeps compatibility while boosting performance, though one tester saw no difference in real applications.

recommend
9
criticize
0
months recommended
3 of 13

Why people love it

What people warn about

  • Confusing chip naming scheme · 1

    If anybody's interested in the V20 from a programming perspective, The User's Manual from NEC is here

    Sep 2026 · comment
  • No gain in some applications · 1

    I never saw a difference for any real application that I tested

    Sep 2026 · comment

What hackers pick instead

Every quote

The 11 most detailed of 11 comments. Each links to the original.

  1. NEC uses their own naming scheme which makes picking out the differences from the 8088 unnecessarily difficult

    Mixed · Sep 2026 · in “Decoding the NEC V20 Microcode”

  2. If anybody's interested in the V20 from a programming perspective, The User's Manual from NEC is here

    Recommends · Sep 2026 · in “Decoding the NEC V20 Microcode”

  3. It's a better 8088 that maintains compatibility while increasing performance

    Recommends · Nov 2025 · in “FPGA Based IBM-PC-XT”

  4. NEC V20/V30 improved by almost 2x to 8 cycles/byte V20 or unaligned V30

    Recommends · Dec 2025 · in “Z8086: Rebuilding the 8086 from Original Microcode”

  5. instant 20% speed boost replacing the IBM 8088 with the v20 chip

    Mixed · Dec 2025 · in “AMD entered the CPU market with reverse-engineered Intel 8080 clone 50 years ago”

  6. I never saw a difference for any real application that I tested

    Mixed · Sep 2026 · in “Decoding the NEC V20 Microcode”

  7. Never had a problem, except for formatting floppies.

    Recommends · Nov 2025 · in “FPGA Based IBM-PC-XT”

  8. It worked well. I used a few V20 and V30 PCs.

    Recommends · Sep 2026 · in “NEC V20 CPU: A bit of pep for an XT”

  9. The V20 was definitely faster for that game.

    Recommends · Sep 2026 · in “Decoding the NEC V20 Microcode”

  10. a nice little upgrade for an XT

    Recommends · Sep 2026 · in “NEC V20 CPU: A bit of pep for an XT”

  11. instant speed boost for IBM PC

    Mixed · Sep 2026 · in “Decoding the NEC V20 Microcode”

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