Intel 8088

The Intel 8088 was a computer processing unit (CPU) based on the 8086, with 16-bit registers and an 8-bit external data bus. The processor was used in the original IBM PC.

The 8088 was targetted at economical systems by allowing the use of 8-bit designs. Large bus width circuit boards were still fairly expensive when it was released. The prefetch queue of the 8088 is 4 bytes, as opposed to the 8086's 6 bytes. The decendants of the 8088 line include the 80188, 80288 (obsolete), and 80388 microcontrollers which are still in use today.

The original IBM-PC used an 8088 processor which ran at 2 speeds. Normal 4.77 megahertz, or Turbo at 8 MHz.

A compatible replacement chip, the V-20, was produced by NEC for an approximate 20 percent improvement in computing power.