Digital Semiconductor 21164 Alpha Microprocessor Product Brief

The Digital Semiconductor 21164 Alpha microprocessor is a high-performance, 64-bit, fully pipelined RISC processor designed for Windows NT desktop PCs and workstations, aiming to bring supercomputer performance to the desktop.

Key Features and Architecture:

• Superscalar Design: Capable of issuing four instructions per clock cycle.
• Integrated Caches: Includes on-chip 8KB L1 instruction cache, 8KB L1 data cache, and a 96KB L2 unified instruction and data cache.
• Manufacturing: Built using 0.35 µm CMOS technology with a 2.0V core for reduced power consumption.
• Memory Interface: Features a high-performance, flexible 128-bit memory data path.

Performance and Benefits:

• High Performance: Operates at speeds up to 600 MHz, delivering strong performance (e.g., 18.0 SPECint95, 27.0 SPECfp95 at 600MHz).
• Windows NT Compatibility: 100% compatible with Windows NT, supporting thousands of native applications and high-performance x86 application translation.
• Power Management: Designed to meet PC industry needs with standard cooling, dissipating approximately 28W at 366 MHz, and a lower power core.
• Productivity: Enhances engineering and business productivity and supports features like host-based DVD playback.
• Future-Ready: Designed based on the 64-bit Alpha architecture.

The 21164 comes in a 499-pin ceramic interstitial pin grid array (IPGA) package.