HP's third-generation 64-bit PA-8500 processor

San Jose, 13 October 98 Hewlett-Packard Company announced availability of its third-generation 64-bit 440 MHz PA-8500 processor, combining leading performance, 1.5 Mbyte 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.

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, 440 MHz for systems such as the HP 9000 V-Class Enterprise server and 360 MHZ 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.

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.

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.

In a separate announcement, HP 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.

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