Digital Equipment Corporation
                                               Maynard, Massachusetts 01754-2571

Editorial contact:

Lisa Lipson
(508) 568-4352

Patricia McGloin
(508) 568-5102


                  More Than One Billion Instructions Per Second

                  DIGITAL AGAIN EXTENDS PERFORMANCE LEADERSHIP
                WITH NEW GENERATION OF ALPHA AXP MICROPROCESSORS

        Alpha AXP 21164 Chip 2-3 Times Faster Than Pentium, PowerPC, MIPS


MAYNARD, Mass.  --  September  7,  1994  --  Digital  Semiconductor,  a  Digital
Equipment Corporation business, today announced the world's fastest and highest-
-performance microprocessor for both server and client systems,  the  Alpha  AXP
21164. The first of a new generation of Alpha AXP microprocessors, the new  chip
is the first to reach or exceed one billion instructions per second (BIPS).

The Alpha AXP 21164 microprocessor extends Digital's performance lead  over  its
competitors and gives Digital the two most powerful single-chip  microprocessors
in the industry, the Alpha AXP 21164 and 21064A (announced in October 1993).

"Digital became the microprocessor performance leader in 1992 with the launch of
the  Alpha  AXP  architecture,"  said  Ed  Caldwell,  vice  president,   Digital
Semiconductor. "We have maintained that lead through  more  than  two  years  of
technology acceleration in the industry.  The  Alpha  AXP  21164  microprocessor
demonstrates our continuing superiority in microprocessor design."


Sets New Performance Records, Beats Competition

Two versions of the new microprocessor were  announced:  the  Alpha  AXP  21164-
-300MHz and the Alpha AXP  21164-266MHz.  Performance  of  the  300MHz  chip  is
estimated at 330 SPECint92, 500 SPECfp92, and 600 TPS (transactions per second),
all industry records for a single-chip microprocessor.  Alpha  AXP  21164-266MHz
chip performance is estimated at 290 SPECint92 and 440 SPECfp92.

The Alpha AXP 21164-300 microprocessor is capable of  three  times  the  integer
performance and six times the  floating  point  performance  of  Intel's  100MHz
Pentium chip. It delivers more than twice the integer performance and over three
times the floating point performance of the MIPS 200MHz R4400  chip,  and  twice
the integer performance and three times the floating point  performance  of  the
PowerPC 604 100MHz microprocessor.

According to Dean McCarron of Mercury Research, a  California  industry  analyst
firm, new, high performance CPUs allow manufacturers to build systems  with  the
simplicity and low cost of a uniprocessor, while offering performance previously
available only with multiprocessor systems.

Commenting on the Mercury statement, Art Swift,  vice  president,  Semiconductor
Marketing and Sales, said, "When we  compared  available  TPS  (transaction  per
second) numbers, we found that a prototype uniprocessor Alpha AXP  21164  system
delivers nearly twice the performance of the Compaq Proliant  4000  server  with
four Pentium-66 processors, and  1.5  times  the  performance  of  Sun's  eight-
-processor SPARCserver 1000 system."

The Alpha AXP 21164 microprocessor  contains  the  industry's  first  two-level,
on-chip cache memory, which enhances chip performance and  eliminates  the  need
for an external cache for the most  widely  used  desktop  applications,  saving
significant cost in many systems. A board-level cache is optional.


Target Client/Server Applications 

The Alpha AXP 21164-300 MHz and 21164-266 MHz microprocessors are ideally suited
for server applications involving multiple databases, groupware for  departments
and workgroups, and high-volume transaction  processing.  They  also  offer  the
industry's  fastest  execution  of  demanding  client  applications,   such   as
mechanical  and  electronic  computer-aided  design   (CAD),   computer-assisted
software engineering (CASE), high-performance graphics and imaging,  multimedia,
voice recognition, and scientific and financial analysis.

"Approximately 6,000 applications running  on  Windows NT,  OSF/1,  and  OpenVMS
operating systems are now shipping for Alpha AXP systems," said Swift. "For  the
external  merchant  semiconductor  market,  we  are  focusing  on  the  emerging
Windows NT segment, in which  more  than  1,700  applications  are  shipping  or
committed for Alpha AXP systems -- far more than for any other RISC vendor.

"We look for Alpha AXP products to complement  our  OEMs'  Pentium-based  system
offerings   for   the   Windows NT   market,"   continued   Swift.   "Alpha  AXP
microprocessors take up where Pentium  performance  leaves  off  for  Windows NT
client and server applications.  According  to  International  Data  Corporation
(IDC), the Windows NT market represents  the  industry's  most  rapidly  growing
server market segment, with a compound average growth rate (CAGR) of 60  percent
through 1997." *


New PCI Chipset

Digital's new DECchip 21171 PCI Core Logic chipset is designed for use with  the
Alpha AXP 21164 microprocessor in PCI bus-based systems. The chipset features  a
256-bit-wide ECC memory bus for high-speed DMA (Direct Memory  Access)  I/O data
transfers.

"Digital has championed PCI bus technology because of its high I/O capacity  and
ability to enhance system performance,"  Swift pointed out.  "With  the  DECchip
21171 chipset, OEMs can offer PCI-based Alpha AXP 21164  systems  with  high-end
client and server-class performance, and take advantage of  volume-priced,  off-
-the-shelf peripherals."


Customer Support

Digital also announced an evaluation board for the Alpha AXP 21164,  the  EB164,
for use by equipment manufacturers to  simplify  board  and  system  design  and
shorten time-to-market for products based on the new microprocessor. As part  of
its worldwide  sales  organization,  Digital  Semiconductor  has  established  a
network of field application engineers to assist OEMs  with  technical  designs,
and  technical  assistance  is  also  available  from  distributors  of  Digital
Semiconductor products.


Prices, Availability

In quantities of 5,000, the Alpha AXP 21164-266MHz is priced at $1,865  and  the
Alpha AXP 21164-300MHz microprocessor is $2,669. Samples of both  versions  will
be available in October. Volume shipments will begin in  January  1995  for  the
Alpha AXP 21164-266MHz and in March 1995 for the 21164-300MHz chip.  Swift  said
that Digital Semiconductor expects to follow an aggressive  curve  in  its  chip
pricing strategy, noting that the  5,000-unit  price  of  the  Alpha AXP  21064-
-200MHz chip is now $544, down 58 percent from its volume price just  12  months
ago.

The five-chip 21171 PCI Core Logic chipset is priced at $295  in  quantities  of
5,000. It will be available for sampling in October and  in  volume  in  January
1995. The EB164 Evaluation Board is scheduled for February 1995  delivery  at  a
price of $7,500.

Digital Semiconductor, a Digital Equipment Corporation business headquartered in
Hudson,  Massachusetts,  designs,  manufactures  and  markets   industry-leading
semiconductor  products  including  Alpha AXP  microprocessors   and   PCI-based
peripheral chips. Digital Semiconductor also operates fabrication facilities  in
Hudson and South Queensferry, Scotland, and design centers in Hudson; Palo Alto,
California;  Austin,  Texas;  and  Jerusalem,  Israel.   A   new,   $450-million
semiconductor fabrication facility with sub-half-micron  capability  is  nearing
completion in Hudson.

Digital Equipment Corporation  is  the  world's  leader  in  open  client/server
solutions from personal computing to integrated worldwide  information  systems.
Digital's  scalable  Alpha AXP  platforms,  storage,  networking,  software  and
services, together with industry-focused solutions from business partners,  help
organizations compete and win in today's global marketplace.

                                      ####

Note to Editors:  Alpha AXP, DEC, Digital, OpenVMS, and  the  Digital  logo  are
                  trademarks of Digital Equipment Corporation.

     		  Pentium is a registered trademark of Intel Corporation.

     		  PowerPC is a registered trademark  of  International  Business
                  Machines Corporation.

     		  Windows NT is a registered trademark of Microsoft Corporation.

     		  OSF is a registered trademark  of  Open  Software  Foundation,
                  Inc.

     		  Compaq  and  Proliant  are  registered  trademarks  of  Compaq
                  Computer Systems, Inc.

     		  Sun  and  SPARCserver  are  registered   trademarks   of   Sun
                  Microsystems, Inc.

     		  HP is a registered trademark of Hewlett-Packard Company.


* "Advanced Operating Environments, 1992-1997," IDC #8442, by David Card.

  International Data Corporation, March 1994, Vol. 1, p. 39.

CORP/95/522
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