HP Unveils Third-generation 64-bit PA-8500 Processor Original Document

HP Unveils Third-generation 64-bit PA-8500 Processor

Industry's Largest On-chip Cache Provides Superior Performance for Enterprise Applications

San Jose Calif., Oct. 13, 1998

Here at Microprocessor Forum, Hewlett-Packard Company today announced availability of its third-generation 64-bit PA-8500 processor, combining leading performance, 1.5MB of on-chip cache and increased scalability for HP's enterprise-class workstations and servers.

The new processor enhances performance of data-intensive applications for the Internet, data warehousing, transaction processing and Computer Aided Design, which require concurrent acceleration of multiple operations. Offering complete software compatibility with existing PA-RISC systems, the PA-8500's leading performance is enabled, in part, by integration of 1.5MB of L1 memory cache, which HP believes is the industry's highest on-chip memory level, which minimizes system latency and boosts performance.

Additionally, this processor is HP's first to use the .25-micron manufacturing process. This advanced process makes it possible for the PA-8500 to contain 140 million transistors, more transistors than any other processor.

The PA-8500 will be offered at two speeds for specific applications, 440MHz for systems such as the HP 9000 V-Class Enterprise server and 360MHZ for systems such as HP's C-Class workstations. V-Class servers implementing these third-generation 64-bit processors are scheduled for introduction before the end of the year. A board upgrade utilizing the PA-8500 operating at 360MHz for C-Class workstations is orderable and is slated to ship in January.

Superior Capabilities

Preliminary estimates for this processor establish a leadership position for PA-RISC(1) compared to other technologies. Initial peak performance levels for the 440MHz PA-8500 are SPECint95 (integer operation) greater than 32 and SPECfp95 (floating-point operation) greater than 52. Official performance benchmarks will be available at release of PA-8500-based systems.

"While the PA-8500 delivers strong benchmark scores, it should do even better on the large and complex workloads often found in enterprise systems," said Linley Gwennap, publisher and editorial director of Microprocessor Report and vice president, publications for MicroDesign Resources. "The new processor will solidify HP's performance position through the debut of IA-64 in 2000."

"Innovative PA-RISC enhancements will continue to provide leading performance under real-world conditions for HP's workstations and servers," said Denny Georg, systems and technology manager for HP's Enterprise Systems Group. "This ongoing innovation enables HP to fulfill the increasingly demanding requirements of enterprise customers."

Product Enhancements

The PA-8500 incorporates enhanced branch prediction capabilities, reducing branch mispredicts, a significant processor limitation. Reducing mispredictions further focuses processor resources on actual system operations, elevating true performance. Enhancements to data pipelines and bus interfaces increase transfer rates and further optimize performance for high-end applications.

Rapid development enabled HP to release the PA-8500 at 440MHz six months ahead of schedule, demonstrating HP's expertise in providing advanced processor technology. The PA-8500 represents the third generation of HP's aggressive out-of-order processor initiative, incorporating capabilities that optimize system performance and enhance processing of multiple operations simultaneously. Other companies, including Digital and Sun Microsystems, have yet to release first-generation processors incorporating this capability.

HP also continues its support of binary compatibility across its entire PA-RISC family, enabling seamless interoperability with legacy applications on HP systems. Binary compatibility protects customers' investments, enabling rapid growth and adoption of new technology infrastructures. In addition, customers can utilize existing applications and operating systems with advanced processor technology for distinct performance improvements.

HP will continue to support binary compatibility through the introduction of IA-64-based processors. As a result of HP's co-development work with Intel on EPIC (Explicitly Parallel Instruction Computing), the technology foundation for IA-64, today's HP-UX(2), Windows NT and MPE/iX applications will run unchanged on IA-64. For maximum performance, these applications can be recompiled without source changes.

In a separate announcement, HP today disclosed its long-term PA-RISC roadmap, with frequency estimates, providing an overview of future performance for the processor family. These plans ensure that the PA-RISC family will continue its performance leadership well into the next century.

About HP

Hewlett-Packard Company is a leading global provider of computing, Internet and intranet solutions, services, communications products and measurement solutions, all of which are recognized for excellence in quality and support. HP has 127,200 employees and had revenue of $42.9 billion in its 1997 fiscal year.

Information about HP and its products can be found on the World Wide Web at http://www.hp.com.

PA-RISC stands for Precision Architecture-reduced-instruction-set computing.

HP-UX Release 10.20 and later and HP-UX Release 11.00 and later (in both 32- and 64-bit configurations) on all HP 9000 computers are Open Group UNIX 95 branded products.