alloca< 16 x float >, align 16 %tmp2=alloca< 16 x float >, align 16 store< 16 x float > %A,< 16 x float > *%tmp %s=bitcast< 16 x float > *%tmp to i8 *%s2=bitcast< 16 x float > *%tmp2 to i8 *call void @llvm.memcpy.i64(i8 *%s, i8 *%s2, i64 64, i32 16) %R=load< 16 x float > *%tmp2 ret< 16 x float > %R } declare void @llvm.memcpy.i64(i8 *nocapture, i8 *nocapture, i64, i32) nounwind which compiles to:_foo:subl $140, %esp movaps %xmm3, 112(%esp) movaps %xmm2, 96(%esp) movaps %xmm1, 80(%esp) movaps %xmm0, 64(%esp) movl 60(%esp), %eax movl %eax, 124(%esp) movl 56(%esp), %eax movl %eax, 120(%esp) movl 52(%esp), %eax< many many more 32-bit copies > movaps(%esp), %xmm0 movaps 16(%esp), %xmm1 movaps 32(%esp), %xmm2 movaps 48(%esp), %xmm3 addl $140, %esp ret On Nehalem, it may even be cheaper to just use movups when unaligned than to fall back to lower-granularity chunks. Implement processor-specific optimizations for parity with GCC on these processors. GCC does two optimizations:1. ix86_pad_returns inserts a noop before ret instructions if immediately preceded by a conditional branch or is the target of a jump. 2. ix86_avoid_jump_misspredicts inserts noops in cases where a 16-byte block of code contains more than 3 branches. The first one is done for all AMDs, Core2, and "Generic" The second one is done for:Atom, Pentium Pro, all AMDs, Pentium 4, Nocona, Core 2, and "Generic" Testcase:int x(int a) { return(a &0xf0)> >4 tmp