RISC system/6000 POWERstations AND POWERservers set the pace for price/performance

Business Wire

February 15, 1990

NEW YORK -- The IBM RISC System/6000-a series is a high-function family of four POWERstations and five POWERservers that offer advanced computing customers formidable performance at an outstanding price.

RISC System/6000 performance is exceptional, whether rated in millions of instructions per second (27.5 to 41 MIPS), Dhrystones (48K to 72K), or millions of floating-point operations per second (7.4 to 13 double-precision LINPACK MFLOPS) (1). POWERstation prices start at $12,995, setting new levels of workstation price/performance.

The family includes the industry's most powerful desktop workstation, the POWERstation 320, IBM's advanced supergraphics POWERstation 730, and various POWERservers that can accommodate multiple users. The family is complemented by the new Xstation 120, a low-priced X server terminal.

All this performance is made possible by the POWER (Performance Optimization With Enhanced RISC) Architecture -- the second generation of IBM-invented RISC technology -- and the advanced functionality of AIX* Version 3 for RISC System/6000.

POWER Architecture's superscalar design can execute up to four instructions per cycle, including a floating-point instruction capable of completing a double-precision 64-bit multiply and add (two operations) in one cycle. This results in a maximum of five operations per machine cycle. Processor performance is enhanced by 64- or 128-bit memory buses capable of moving 160 to 480 million bytes of data per second.

The RISC System/6000 family features a high-performance implementation of the IBM Micro Channel-a bus, with the streaming data feature providing an I/O throughput of up to 40 megabytes per second.

It offers memory ranging from 8MB (million bytes) to 256MB, and internal disk storage from 120MB to nearly 12 billion bytes (gigabytes or GB). External disk drives, fixed or removable, enable customers to add further direct-access storage to the desktop and deskside systems.

The new systems combine Micro Channel architecture and IBM's new high-speed storage products, such as 320- and 857-megabyte SCSI (Small Computer Systems Interface) disk drives; and network adapters, such as Ethernet or Token-Ring, to dramatically improve system and network performance.

In addition, the new IBM AIX-a Version 3 for RISC System/6000, IBM's version of the UNIX-a operating system, and a wide variety of input/output devices, including portable disk drives, 8mm and 1/4-inch tape drives and CD-ROM, also announced today, to provide a complete systems offering.

Four RISC System/6000 POWERstations POWERstation 320

The RISC System/6000 POWERstation 320 is a powerful desktop workstation, with a performance rating of 27.5 MIPS, 48K Dhrystones and 7.4 MFLOPS. It has a clock speed of 20 Megahertz (20 MHz) and a variety of capabilities enabled by two memory expansion slots and four 32-bit Micro Channel slots.

The POWERstation 320 can be configured as a ``client system'' attached to a local area network, with 8MB of memory, a 3.5-inch 1.4MB diskette drive and a 3.5-inch 120MB fixed-disk drive. A LAN-attached server provides data and program storage.

Configured with 240MB or more of disk storage, the POWERstation 320 is a powerful stand-alone graphics workstation, with optional LAN and other communications capabilities. Using the system's two memory slots and four 32-bit Micro Channel slots, memory is expandable to 32MB and internal fixed-disk storage to 640MB.

The POWERstation 320 will be available in the second quarter, with prices starting at $12,995 for a fully configured client system and $14,945 for a stand-alone workstation configuration.

These prices (and prices for other POWERstation configurations that follow) include base system features, 19-inch 1280 X 1024 monochrome display, Grayscale Graphics Display Adapter, keyboard, three-button mouse, AIX operting system, graphical user interface, software service and a one-year hardware warranty. POWERstation 520

The RISC System/6000 POWERstation 520 is a deskside unit running at 20 MHz. A base POWERstation 520 includes 8MB of memory, a 3.5-inch 1.4MB diskette drive and a 5.25-inch 355MB fixed-disk drive. Eight memory slots and eight 32-bit Micro Channel slots provide system expandability. Memory can be expanded to 128MB and internal disk storage to 2.5GB.

The 520 has a performance rating of 27.5 MIPS, 48K Dhrystones and 7.4 MFLOPS. It will be available in the second quarter at prices starting at $27,245. It can be upgraded in a customer location to a POWERstation 530. POWERstation 530

The POWERstation 530 is a deskside unit. A base system includes 16MB of memory, a 3.5-inch 1.4MB diskette drive and a 5.25-inch 355MB fixed-disk drive. Eight memory slots and eight 32-bit Micro Channel slots provide system expandability. Memory can be expanded to 128MB and internal disk storage to 2.5GB.

The POWERstation 530 has a clock speed of 25 MHz and a performance rating of 34.5 MIPS, 60.7K Dhrystones and 10.9 MFLOPS. It will be available in the second quarter at prices starting at $42,705.

POWERstation 730

The RISC System/6000 POWERstation 730, IBM's new supergraphics workstation, is a deskside unit running at 25 MHz. It combines extensive high-function, 3-D graphics processing with a high-performance and multi-tasking workstation. With its 1,280-by-1,024 pixel resolution monitor and support for 16.7 million colors, it can display 24-bit "true color" graphics, imaging and visualization applications that require realistic pictures or motion graphics.

The POWERstation 730 features IBM's new integrated Supergraphics Processor Subsystem: a graphics control processor, drawing processor and shading processor, which shades and rotates complex 3-D images. It also offers a wide variety of I/O devices designed for increased productivity, function and connectivity. It can display even complex creations in fast, fluid motion from any angle.

This powerful graphics workstation delivers up to an estimated 990,000 3-D vector transformations per second. The POWERstation 730 can render up to 120,000 Gouraud-shaded triangles a second (2) -- for realistic shading in an instant -- and has the ability to display 256 colors out of a pallette of 16.7 million. With the 24-bit ``true color'' feature, it can display as many as 16.7 million colors.

A base configuration includes 16MB of memory, a 3.5-inch 1.4MB diskette drive and a 5.25-inch 355MB fixed disk, plus eight memory slots and eight 32-bit Micro Channel slots. Memory can be expanded to 128MB and internal fixed-disk storage to 2.5GB.

The POWERstation 730 has a performance rating of 34.5 MIPS, 60.7K Dhrystones and 10.9 MFLOPS. It will be available in the fourth quarter at prices beginning at $73,815, including a 19" 1280 X 1024 color display.

Five RISC System/6000 POWERservers POWERserver 320

The deskside RISC System/6000 POWERserver 320 operates at 20 MHz and performs at 27.5 MIPS, 48K Dhrystones and 7.4 MFLOPS. It is designed for low-cost, multi-user applications. When appropriately configured, it can support multi-user applications such as desktop publishing, software development, stock trading and graphics.

A base configuration includes 16MB of memory, a 3.5-inch 1.4MB diskette drive and a 3.5-inch 320MB fixed-disk drive. Two memory slots and four 32-bit Micro Channel I/O slots provide additional system expandability, with memory expandable to 32MB and internal fixed-disk storage to 640MB.

The POWERserver 320 will be available in the second quarter at prices starting at $20,375.

This price (and prices for other POWERserver configurations that follow) includes base system features described above, plus Ethernet, AIX operating system and a 150MB 1/4-inch tape drive, software service and one-year hardware warranty. POWERserver 520

The deskside RISC System/6000 POWERserver 520 also operates at 20 MHz. It can perform 27.5 MIPS, 48K Dhrystones and 7.4 MFLOPS, and offers more expansion slots, memory and storage capacity than the POWERstation 320. It was designed to support multiple users in commercial and engineering/scientific environments.

A base configuration includes 16MB of memory, a 3.5-inch 1.4MB diskette drive and a 5.25-inch 355MB fixed-disk drive. Eight memory slots and eight 32-bit Micro Channel slots provide system expandability.

Memory ranges from 16MB to 128MB and internal fixed-disk storage from 355MB to 2.5GB. The POWERserver 520, which can be upgraded to a POWERserver 530, will be available in the second quarter at prices starting at $30,425. POWERserver 530

The RISC System/6000 POWERserver 530 is similar to the POWERserver 520, but runs at 25 MHz. It also has a larger data cache (64KB vs 32KB) and a wider memory path (128 bits vs 64 bits), enabling a memory transfer rate of 400MB per second.

This model is designed for multi-user systems running such applications as computational fluid dynamics and finite element analysis.

The POWERserver 530 has a performance rating of 34.5 MIPS, 60.7K Dhrystones and 10.9 MFLOPS. A base configuration includes 16MB of memory, a 3.5-inch 1.4MB diskette drive and a 5.25-inch 355MB fixed-disk drive.

The POWERserver 530 will be available in the second quarter at prices starting at $41,125. POWERserver 540

The most powerful member of the RISC System/6000 family is the deskside POWERserver 540, which runs at 30 MHz and has a performance rating of 41 MIPS, 72K Dhrystones and 13 MFLOPS.

This model's special strengths make it appropriate for such numeric-intensive computing tasks as quantitative analysis, large finite element analyses, large-scale circuit simulations and molecular modeling. With its processing power, increased memory capacity, connectivity and system flexibility, the POWERserver 540 is aimed at engineering/scientific environments requiring intensive computing and server applications.

A base configuration includes 64MB of memory, a 3.5-inch 1.4MB diskette drive and two 3.5-inch 320MB fixed-disk drives, plus eight memory slots and eight 32-bit Micro Channel slots. Memory can be expanded to 256MB and internal fixed-disk storage to 2.5GB.

The POWERserver 540 will be available in the third quarter at prices starting at $92,885. POWERserver 930

The POWERserver 930 is a rack-mounted server running at 25 MHz, with the highest degree of expandability in the RISC System/6000 family. It can attach more asynchronous devices than any other member of the family and can be used as a large file server, with up to 12GB of internal disk storage.

A base configuration includes 16MB of memory (expandable to 128MB), a 3.5-inch 1.4MB diskette drive, a 2.3GB 8mm tape drive, a 600MB compact disk CD-ROM and a 5.25-inch 670MB fixed-disk drive, plus eight memory slots and eight 32-bit Micro Channel slots.

The POWERserver 930 has a performance rating of 34.5 MIPS, 60.7K Dhrystones and 10.9 MFLOPS. It will be available in the third quarter at prices starting at $62,230. Xstation 120

The RISC System/6000 family is complemented by the new IBM Xstation 120, a low-priced, LAN-attached X server terminal that offers flexible configuration to meet a variety of customer needs. It can be used for two-dimensional design and viewing, as well as for desktop publishing and CASE (Computer-Aided Software Engineering).

An Xstation 120 can run simultaneously in a Token-Ring and an Ethernet network. A base configuration includes an I/O processor and a graphics processor, 512KB of system memory and 512KB of video memory. System memory can be expanded to 8.5 MB and video memory to 2 MB. The Xstation 120 also contains built-in serial and parallel ports for printer attachment.

A wide variety of IBM displays is available, ranging from 12 to 19 inches in size, from four shades of gray to 256 colors, and resolutions from 640 X 480 to 1280 X 1p24 pixels.

The Xstation 120 will be available in the second quarter at prices starting at $2,525. (1) The floating-point performance values given in this document (MFLOPS) are based on the double-precision LINPACK 100 X 100 system of linear equations. AIX XL FORTRAN Compiler/6000 and IBM's standard floating-point unit were used on each system reporting values. The ``ALL FORTRAN'' version of LINPACK was used. All MIPS values were computed using the RISC System/6000 Dhrystone 1.1 results, where 1757 Dhrystones per second equals one VAX* 11/780 MIPS. The Dhrystone 1.1 test was compiled and executed on the indicated models using AIX XL C Compiler/6000. The MIPS and MFLOPS values are the results of tests run on engineering test-level systems. While these values should be indicative of generally available systems, no warranties or guarantees are stated or implied by IBM. We recommend application-oriented testing for performance predictions and offer these values only as an initial indicator. (2) 999,000 3-D vectors per second, transformed, scaled and clipped (estimated). Graphics values reflect the results of hardware test measurements. System-level measurements will be available at a later date. Values shown in this document are the results of engineering test-level systems. While these values should be indicative of generally available systems, no warranties or guarantees are stated or implied by IBM. TRADEMARKS: a- RISC System/6000, AIX and Micro Channel are trademarks of the International Business Machines Corporation. Personal System/2 is a registered trademark of IBM. a- VAX is a trademark of Digital Equipment Corporation. a- UNIX is a registered trademark of AT&T in the United States and other countries, except Japan; and developed and licensed by AT&T in Japan.

CONTACT: IBM Corporation, New York Douglas M. DeLay, 212/230-5499 (through 2/16) or, 203/352-7611 (After 2/16)