System design for a low cost PA-RISC desktop workstation

Abstract

A low-cost high-performance desktop workstation is described. A high-performance CMOS processor was developed with the specific goal of moving the PA-RISC architecture into the low-cost workstation market. Not only were each of the system components designed for optimal performance, but they were also designed to support the other system components. The processor added features and instructions to improve graphics performance. The memory system was optimized to minimize the effects of cache misses on the CPU performance and at the same time provide the memory to graphics bandwidth needed to support the most advanced graphics systems. Special hardware was added to the memory controller to allow low-cost 3-D graphics systems to be developed. The I/O system provides the most important industry standard I/O interfaces for low cost and high performance, and also provides an industry standard EISA bus for less common and future I/O needs.<>