The 'C2x DSP performs 10–12.5 million instructions per second (MIPS). The TMS320C2x offers four times the performance of the 'C1x generation, and accepts source code from the TMS320C1x.

The 'C2x is capable of an instruction cycle time of 80 ns. Enhanced features such as 74 additional instructions (134 total instructions), eight auxiliary registers, an 8-level hardware stack, more on-chip memory, and simultaneous single-cycle multiply/ALU operations contribute to this high performance. The 'C2x implements bit-reversed addressing for FFTs via hardware, eliminating lengthy software solutions and further increasing performance.

Another 'C2x feature is a hardware wait-state generator for communication to slower off-chip memories.

An optimizing ANSI C compiler is offered for the 'C2x. This enables you to develop and debug code in ANSI C, eliminating the need to learn a new assembly language. This also shortens the development cycle, reducing time to market.