eli5: What does people mean when they say that a computer system runs on different architecture from another computer? Like when somebody says that an emulator can run N64 games faster theoretically but because of different architecture in practicality it cant?

Question

eli5: What does people mean when they say that a computer system runs on different architecture from another computer? Like when somebody says that an emulator can run N64 games faster theoretically but because of different architecture in practicality it cant?

In: Technology

Answer 1

Computers process instructions, which means they receive instructions from us, then memorise and execute them (or vice-versa). The term “architecture” refers to unique method in which the computer receives, remembers and executes these instructions.

If you think of the architecture like an assembly line in a factory, the instructions are the binary signals (1s and 0s) that pass through the assembly line, the configuration of 1s and 0s will also specify what part of the assembly line these instructions need to go to in order for the system to trigger the correct output, thus fulfilling the instruction.

Some assembly lines/architectures are more efficient than others, maybe their paths are shorter, maybe they need fewer 1s and 0s to relay the same instructions, maybe their instructions use values between 1 and 0 thus allowing them to expand the amount of instructions given per cluster of 1s and 0s.