Summary

  • A CPU was built in Excel by YouTuber Inkbox, expanding from a previous 16-bit CPU creation.
  • The CPU can draw a rainbow on the screen with a processing power of 12-14Hz.
  • For more unconventional Excel uses, check out creations like a Fallout RPG and Tetris, alongside a horror game in PowerPoint.

Do you know what Microsoft designed Excel to do? If you said, "Create a spreadsheet with values and formulae," you clearly remember why Microsoft created Excel, which seems to be used for all kinds of stuff these days. Case in point: someone just used it to make a functioning CPU, which I never expected to see the spreadsheet app do.

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Someone built a CPU in Excel because why not?

As spotted by Hackaday, YouTuber Inkbox created an 8-bit RISC CPU entirely in Excel. Interestingly, this isn't the first time he has done something like this; in fact, this project follows Inkbox's creation of a 16-bit CPU in the app. He didn't like his original creation, so he went back in and built another one.

So, can it run Doom? Well, not yet. In the video, Inkbox showed the CPU drawing a rainbow on the screen, which he states has a processing power of 12-14Hz. Yeah, those aren't megahertz—those are just your regular, run-of-the-mill hertz. It's not very fast, but it's blisteringly quick compared to his previous 16-bit CPU, which only managed 1-2Hz. If you're a fan of CPUs and how they work, you owe it to yourself to check out the video above and give Inkbox a follow for more stuff like this.

If you want other cool ways to use Excel that go against what its makers intended, check out the times someone made a Fallout RPG and Tetris in the productivity app. And if you want more Office shenanigans, our writer Jeff Butts explored a horror game created in PowerPoint.