1. A method of controlling a fixed point division operation, the method comprising: executing, by a processor, an instruction to perform a division operation for a dividend and a divisor, the execution comprising; calculating a magnitude of the dividend and the divisor, the magnitude selected from one of a number of significant bits and a value represented in an exponent field; comparing the magnitude of the dividend to the magnitude of the divisor; prior to performing the division operation, determining a quotient precision based on the comparison, the determining including at least one of: determining whether a special condition exists for which a required number of iterations is zero, and calculating a difference between the magnitude of the dividend and the magnitude of the divisor; computing a required number of iterations needed to produce the quotient precision; and performing the required number of iterations.