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WEITEK announces 80 MHz SPARC CPU upgrade
Robert Plamondon Jun 14 1993, 01:30 pm
WEITEK announces 80 MHz SPARC CPU upgrade
WEITEK CORPORATION
John Vidal
(408) 738-8400
JENNINGS & CO
LeeAnee French
(415) 349-8400
NEW WEITEK CPU DOUBLES THE PROCESSOR POWER OF SPARCSTATION 2 AND IPX WORKSTATIONS
USER-INSTALLABLE 80 MHZ CHIP SPEEDS APPLICATION PERFORMANCE UP TO 1.9X
DALLAS, Texas, June 14, 1993 -- Weitek Corporation (Nasdaq:WWTK) today announced a fully compatible
SPARC(R) microprocessor that users of Sun Microsystems Computer Corporation (SMCC) SPARCstation(TM) 2 and
IPX workstations can install themselves to boost the performance of their applications up to 1.9 times.
The Weitek SPARC POWER(TM) uP, priced at $1,500, is a pin-for-pin replacement upgrade for the
SPARCstation 2 and IPX CPUs. The chip, which users can easily install, is 100 percent compatible with
the SPARCstation 2 and IPX's operating systems and applications software.
Pre-release samples of the SPARC POWER uP are being demonstrated here at the Design Automation Conference
by leading software suppliers, including Cadence Design Systems, Inc., COMPASS Design Automation,
Intergraph Corporation, Meta-Software, Inc., Sunrise Test Systems, Synopsys, Inc., and ViewLogic Systems,
Inc.
"Weitek's SPARC POWER uP delivers on Sun Microsystems' open architecture policy," said Derek Meyer,
Director of SPARC marketing at SMCC. "SPARC was created as an open standard to encourage independent
hardware and software developers to find new answers to SPARC users' needs. We endorse Weitek's
contribution to the standard with their new SPARC POWER uP."
"SPARC POWER uP's cost benefits go beyond price/performance comparisons by preserving capital investment,
extending machine life and increasing the usefulness of existing hardware and software," said Barry Cox,
Weitek's president.
Weitek has provided floating point units (FPU) to SMCC since 1985, is a SPARC licensee, and was the first
Sun vendor to integrate an integer unit (IU) and an FPU on a single chip. Current Weitek SPARC products
include an integrated IU/FPU, four FPUs and an integrated graphics controller chip. Weitek continues to
provide W8601 CPUs to Sun for its IPX workstations.
SPARCstation 2 and IPX workstations represent nearly half of Sun's total installed base, with more than
250,000 machines in use worldwide. Both are still being manufactured. Typical uses include electrical and
mechanical computer-aided design (ECAD and MCAD), finite element analysis (FEA), database
management/financial modeling and desktop publishing (DTP).
"The SPARC POWER uP is an easy, natural upgrade for any SPARCstation 2 or IPX used in compute-intensive
applications such as CAD," Cox said. "And, it improves system performance far more than a similar
investment in on-board memory or disk storage capacity."
SPARC POWER uP PERFORMANCE AND SPECIFICATIONS
Weitek's SPARC POWER uP is a 1.8-million transistor integrated central processing unit (CPU). Produced
in 0.8-micron triple-layer metal CMOS process technology, the circuit features a Phase Lock Loop (PLL)
internal clock doubler which runs the internal CPU circuits at 80 megahertz (MHz) while maintaining a
40MHz system interface; along with 16 kilobyte (KB) of on-chip cache memory for instructions and 8KB
for data.
These features combine to produce doubled peak integer performance compared to the original SPARCstation
2/IPX CPU; more than doubled peak floating-point performance; and quadrupled peak internal bandwidth.
STANDARD BENCHMARK RESULTS
---------------------------------------------------------------
BENCHMARK SPARCSTATION 2 SPARCSTATION 2 SPEEDUP
W/SPARC POWER uP FACTOR
---------------------------------------------------------------
SPECint92 21.4 SPECint 32.2 SPECint 1.5x
SPECfp92 21.8 SPECfp 31.1 SPECfp 1.4x Peak
MIPS 40 80 2.0x Peak
MFLOPS 13.7 33.3 2.4x
---------------------------------------------------------------
APPLICATION TEST RESULTS
----------------------------------------------------------------------
BENCHMARK SPARCSTATION 2 SPARCSTATION 2 SPEEDUP
W/SPARC POWER uP FACTOR
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Cadence Allegro 131 sec 96 sec 1.4x
(PC board layout)
Cadence Compose 642 sec 439 sec 1.5x
(IC layout)
Cadence Dracula 2,570 sec 1,893 sec 1.4x
(IC layout/verification)
Cadence Verilog 1,586 sec 1,065 sec 1.5x
(logic simulator)
Intergraph (IC Design)
Boolean test 44 sec 29 sec 1.5x
Spacing test 6,606 sec 3,532 sec 1.9x
Interleaf (desktop 9.1 sec 5.7 sec 1.6x
publishing)
Informix WINGZ 294 sec 208 sec 1.4x
(spreadsheet)
Synopsis 249 sec 147 sec 1.7x
(logic synthesis)
MacNeil Schwendler 1,137 sec 810 sec 1.4x
NASTRAN (finite element analysis)
----------------------------------------------------------------------
* SPARCstation IPX results match those of the SPARCstation 2 to within a few percent.
SYSTEM CONFIGURATION: The benchmark results shown here were run on a single SPARCstation 2 machine, with
and without the SPARC Power uP. The system had 64 MB of RAM and was running SunOS 4.1.3. The benchmarks
were compiled with Sun's release SC1.0 C and FORTRAN compilers.
The average speedup of the applications listed in figure 4 was 1.53x. This shows the interaction of a
double-speed CPU with a system that is otherwise unmodified.
The SPARC POWER uP's 100 percent compatibility has been verified through compliance testing performed by
SPARC International, an organization of SPARC hardware and software vendors which ensures the compatibility
of SPARC chip implementations and supports the migration of application software to SPARC platforms.
Certified as SPARC Compliant(TM), the SPARC POWER uP has passed the same SCDv7 tests as the original
SPARCstation 2 and IPX. Weitek further backs the chip with a full one-year warranty.
INSTALLING THE SPARC POWER uP
The SPARC POWER uP is a pin-for-pin replacement for the existing SPARCstation 2 and IPX CPUs; and is
completely compatible electrically, functionally and at the binary software level. "All the user has to do
is open the machine, remove the old CPU from its socket and insert the new one with a tool we provide,"
Cox said. "A manual is included to guide users through each step."
Older systems such as the SPARCstation 1 and SPARCstation 1+ can also take advantage of the SPARC POWER
uP's performance by installing a SPARCstation 2 motherboard upgraded with the new Weitek CPU.
The SPARC POWER uP upgrade requires no additional hardware or software modifications to the system.
AVAILABILITY AND PRICING
Production quantities of the Weitek SPARC POWER uP are expected to be available within 90 days. The new
CPU is priced at $1,500 for single-unit orders, with quantity discounts available for volume purchases.
ORDERING. Users in the U.S. can order the part directly from Weitek by calling (408) 738-8400. It will
also be available through Weitek distributors in Europe and Japan.
FAXBACK. For Faxback information, users can call (800) 827-8708.
E-MAIL. Requests for information can also be sent by electronic mail, to cpu-upgrade@weitek.com. (This
will result in hard-copy information being sent, so please include name, address, and phone number.)
WEITEK CORPORATION
Weitek Corporation makes processors and controllers that enhance the performance of standard operating
systems, user interfaces and application software. The company's products are used to build faster and
more intuitive desktop computers and peripherals.
SPARC is a registered trademark of SPARC International, Inc.
All SPARC trademarks, including SPARC International and SPARC Compliant are registered trademarks of SPARC International.
SPARCstation is a trademark of SPARC International licensed exclusively to Sun Microsystems, Inc.
SPARC Power is a trademark of SPARC International licensed exclusively to Weitek.
Products bearing the SPARC trademark are based on an architecture developed by Sun Microsystems, Inc.
Sun and Sun Microsystems are registered trademarks of Sun Microsystems, Inc.
IPX is a trademark of Sun Microsystems, Inc.
Weitek is a registered trademark of Weitek Corporation.
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