#ACORN ARCHIMEDES SERIES#

The 8 MHz ARM2 yielded 4.5 - 4.8 MIPS for 32-bit workloads in repeatable benchmark tests. An 0 had an average performance of roughly 1 MIPS for 16-bit workloads and 0.5 MIPS for 32-bit workloads, with peak performance of 2 MIPS for simpler 16-bit instructions. The Archimedes was one of the most powerful home computers available during the late 1980s and early 1990s its main CPU was faster than the 68000 microprocessors found in the more popular Commodore Amiga and Atari ST machines. The 300 and 400 were followed by a number of machines with minor changes and upgrades.

The 540 was unveiled in September 1990, and included higher speed SCSI and provision for connecting Genlock devices. All models featured onboard 8 channel stereo sound and were capable of displaying 256 colours on screen.įour models were initially released with different amounts of memory, the A305, A310, A410 and A440. Both models included the Arthur operating system operating system (later replaced by RISC OS as a paid-for upgrade), BBC BASIC programming language and an emulator for Acorn's earlier BBC Micro, and were mounted in two-part cases with a small central unit, monitor on top, and a separate keyboard and three-button mouse.

#ACORN ARCHIMEDES SERIES#

The 400 series included 4 expansion slots (although a 2 slot backplane could be added to the 300 series as an official upgrade, and third parties produced their own 4 slot backplanes) and an ST506 controller for an internal hard drive. The first models were released in June 1987, as the 300 and 400 series. The name is commonly used to describe any of Acorn's contemporary designs based on the same architecture, even where Acorn did not include Archimedes in the official name.

Using a RISC design with a 32-bit CPU, at its launch in June 1987, the Archimedes was stated as running at 4 MIPS, with a claim of 18 MIPS during tests. The Acorn Archimedes was Acorn Computers' first general purpose home computer to be based on their own ARM architecture.

Acorn archimedes