PA-RISC information - since 1999

PA-RISC Hardware

HP 9000 PA-RISC computers are based on HP Precision Architecture, a HP RISC design from the 1980s and 1990s for Unix servers and workstations.

PA-RISC hardware platforms and computers were developed in phases by HP, based on technological advances, market development and the computerization since the 1980s. HP 9000 PA-RISC computers can be grouped into four distinct design phases:

Design PA-RISC Processors Chipset Used in
Phase I
Infancy: Early Architecture
Early TS-1, NS-1, NS-2, PCX SIU/SPI, CTB Early HP 9000 800
Phase II Growth: 32-bit 1990s
ASP/Viper PA-7000, PA-7100 Viper, ASP HP 9000 700 workstations
HP 9000 800 servers
HP 9000 74x VME boards
Phase III Maturity: The heydays
LASI PA-7100LC, PA-7300LC MIOC, LASI, Wax, Dino HP 9000 700 workstations
HP 9000 74x VME boards
U2/UTurn PA-7200, PA-8000, PA-8200 MMC/SMC, U2, UTurn,
LASI, Wax, Dino, Cujo
HP Visualize workstations
Lettered HP servers
Astro PA-8500, PA-8600, PA-8700 Astro, Elroy HP Visualize workstations
Lettered HP servers
Stretch PA-8500, PA-8600, PA-8700 DEW, Prelude, IKE, Elroy HP rp servers
Phase IV Decline: 64-bit to Itanium
Cell PA-8700, PA-8800 PA-8900 CC, XBC, SBA, Elroy HP rp servers
HP Superdome mainframes
zx1 PA-8800 PA-8900, Itanium 2 Pluto, Mercury HP rp servers
HP Superdome mainframes
HP Itanium computers
HP Visualize C360 HP 9000 735/125 HP 9000 712 HP 9000 720
PA-RISC Hardware, Thomas Schanz, CC BY-SA 4.0

HP PA-RISC processors span a range from early 1980s 32-bit TS-1 based on TTL, to modern dual-core 64-bit PA-8900 in the mid-2000s. HP designed and produced most processors in-house, as it did with the custom HP chipsets and platform designs used in HP 9000 PA-RISC servers and workstations.

There were many special HP expansion cards for HP 9000 I/O buses, for graphics and videos HP often used inhouse PA-RISC graphics adapters. PA-RISC computers have a custom Boot Menu, PDC, and display error codes on LEDs on the system front.

PA-RISC hardware peaked with very advanced 64-bit designs in the Decline (IV) phase during the 2000s, when EPIC (Itanium) was introduced. The overall HP PA-RISC and HP 9000 story is longer, together with the complex history of PA-RISC operating systems. There is a PA-RISC timeline with pricing from 1982 to the 2010s.

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