HP Visualize B2000 and B2600
| Quick Facts | |
|---|---|
| Introduced | 2000 |
| Period | Maturity (III) |
| Series | Visualize |
| CPU | PA-8500 64-bit PA-8600 64-bit 400-500 MHz |
| Cache | 1.5 MB L1 |
| RAM | 4 GB |
| Design | Astro |
| Drives | 2 SCSI 1 FD 1 IDE |
| Expansion | 4 PCI |
| I/O | Fast Ethernet VGA (B2000) 2 serial parallel 2 USB audio |
HP Visualize B2000 and B2600 PA-RISC workstations were 3D graphics workstations from 2000, equipped with the 64-bit PA-8500 or PA-8600 processors with large on-chip L1 caches.
HP B2000 used PA-8500 PA-RISC processors in a small tower case, similar to previous B1000 and C-Class. B2600 used a smaller desktop with faster and more modern PA-8600 processors.
The architecture of these B-Class workstation was a major change from those of its C-Class predecessors, now based on HP Astro/Elroy chipset, new I/O devices and no LASI I/O chip and GSC bus. All device I/O is implemented by PCI buses, human I/O devices are connected to USB ports.
An upgrade path to HP Itanium (EPIC VLIW) was envisaged for Visualize workstations but not offered eventually. B2000 and B2600 were some of the last PA-RISC workstations offered by HP, before the ultimate HP c8000 a few years later with the last PA-8800.
- HP Visualize B2000, HP 9000/785, were introduced in 2000 for $5,075
- HP Visualize B2600, HP 9000/785, were introduced in 2000
Architecture
Processors
| System | CPU | Speed | L1 cache |
|---|---|---|---|
| HP Visualize B2000 | PA-8500 PA-RISC 64-bit | 300/440 MHz | 512/1024 KB on-chip |
| HP Visualize B2600 | PA-8600 PA-RISC 64-bit | 500 MHz | 512/1024 KB on-chip |
There were some B2000 shipped with or upgraded to PA-8600 (PCXW+) processors.
Chipset
- HP Astro chipset memory/Runway controller
- Two HP Elroy PCI bridges
- National 87560 (SuperI/O) for USB, RS232, parallel, floppy and IDE
- National 87415 IDE controller
- National USB controller
- Analog Devices AD1889 sound chip (on B2600 the audio card is optional)
- DEC 21142/43 Fast Ethernet controller (Tulip)
- Symbios Logic 53C896 Ultra2-Wide SCSI-3 controller
- Graphics through PCI boards:
- Optional HP Visualize FX5pro 64 MB, PCI
- Optional HP Visualize FXe 18 MB, PCI
System buses
- Runway CPU/memory bus
- PCI-32/33 device I/O bus
- PCI-64/33 high-performance I/O bus
- SCSI-3 Ultra2-Wide LVD bus main storage I/O
- IDE bus; removable device-I/O
Expansion
Memory
- 278-pin 120 MHz ECC SD-RAM DIMMs
- Four slots for 128 MB-1 GB modules
- 128 MB to 4 GB supported
I/O slots
- Two PCI 64-bit/33 MHz, 5 V slots (clocked at 66 MHz on B2600)
- Two PCI 32-bit/33 MHz, 5 V slots
- B2000 I/O slot layout, from top to bottom:
- PCI-64/33, 5 V
- PCI-64/33, 5 V
- PCI-32/33, 5 V
- PCI-32/33, 5 V
- B2600 I/O slot layout, from top to bottom:
- PCI-32/33, 5 V, short PCI cards
- PCI-32/33, 5 V, short PCI cards
- PCI-64/33, 5 V, short and full-length cards
- PCI-64/33, 5 V, short and full-length cards
Storage
- Two SCSI 3.5″ Ultra2-Wide LVD hard drives with 80-pin SCA connector
- 3.5″ Floppy drive
- IDE half-heigth 5.25″ drive, external accessible
I/O ports
- B2000: VGA HD15
- Two serial RS232C DB9
- Parallel DB25
- Fast Ethernet RJ45
- Two USB ports for keyboard & mouse
- Four audio jacks (microphone, headphones, line-in and line-out) (on B2600 the audio card is optional)
Operating systems
- HP-UX, the original HP Unix shipped with it
- PA-RISC Linux, main Linux port to PA-RISC
- OpenBSD, open-source Unix-like, ported to PA-RISC, in 32-bit mode
- NetBSD open-source Unix-like, ported to PA-RISC, in 32-bit mode
Pictures
Dimensions
| System | Height | Width | Depth | Weight |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| B2000 | 445mm | 229mm | 495mm | 21kg |
| B2600 | 127mm | 425mm | 457mm | 20kg |
Benchmarks
| System | CPU | SPEC95 int |
SPEC95 fp |
SPEC2000 int |
SPEC2000 fp |
SPEC2000 rate int/fp |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| HP Visualize B2000 | PA‑8500 440MHz | 31.8 | 52.4 | 332 | 357 | 3.8/4.1 |
| HP Visualize B2600 | PA-8600 500MHz | 403 | 440 | 4.7/5.1 |
Comparison to SPEC benchmark data from other contemporary Unix workstations:
| System | Processor | SPEC2000 int |
SPEC2000 fp |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sun Fire 280R | UltraSPARC III Cu 1GHz | 511 | 688 |
| SGI Origin 3200 | MIPS R14000 600MHz | 483 | 499 |
| DELL Power Edge 4400 | Pentium III Xeon 1 GHz | 437 | 302 |
| IBM RS/6000 M80 | IBM RS64 IV 750MHz | 409 | 359 |
| HP i2000 | Itanium Merced 800MHz 4MB | 365 | 610 |
| HP Visualize P750C | Pentium III 750MHz | 325 | 219 |
| Compaq AlphaServer ES40 | Alpha 21264 500MHz | 311 | 382 |
| HP Visualize P500 | Intel Pentium III 500MHz | 231 | 191 |
Documentation
Manuals
- B2000 Service Handbook HP, (PDF, 8.8 MB) parisc linux
- B2000 Owner’s Guide HP, (PDF, 2.6 MB) parisc linux
- B2600 Technical Reference Manual HP, (PDF, 33.0 MB) parisc linux
- VISUALIZE Workstation Memory Subsystem HP, (PDF, 120 KB) parisc linux