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SunFlash 77.37

Sun Samples UltraSPARC

May 1995 John J. McLaughlin, Editor/Publisher flash@flashback.com
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SAN FRANCISCO -- May 24, 1995 -- Today at SunWorld '95, Sun
Microsystems' SPARC Technology Business announced the sample
availability of its high-performance UltraSPARC microprocessor. The
64-bit UltraSPARC is the industry's first microprocessor with
comprehensive on-chip multimedia support. The first UltraSPARC
devices run at 143 MHz and 167 MHz with up to an estimated 240
SPECint92 and 350 SPECfp92. Aggressively priced, UltraSPARC is the
first RISC microprocessor to offer high-end workstation-level
performance with $/SPECint and $/SPECfp levels found only in the
personal computing arena.

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"UltraSPARC is consistently outperforming our most aggressive expectations and
is one of the only high-performance processors to meet publicly announced
performance and availability goals," stated Art Swift, vice president of
marketing for Sun's SPARC Technology Business. "We are ramping UltraSPARC to
production levels and expect to achieve volume quantities for shipment in Fall
1995."

Swift continued, "UltraSPARC acceptance has been very strong. Our systems
partners are currently readying UltraSPARC-based systems for debut late this
year. The next two generations of UltraSPARC are currently underway with the
computing, multimedia and networking performance to enable us to continuously
deliver the industry's most powerful processors."

"Cray's SPARC/Solaris systems are upward extensions of Sun's product line,
making the Solaris family of systems the most comprehensive and scalable
solution available to enterprise customers," said Clark Masters, vice president
of Development and Operations at Cray Research Business Systems Division. "Our
existing SuperSPARC/Solaris system, the CS6400, has proved to be unrivaled
among high-end systems, setting performance and price/performance records. Our
next-generation system will be based on UltraSPARC with improved performance in
every dimension. UltraSPARC's performance and functionality perfectly
complement Cray's high-bandwidth interconnect and high-availability system
technologies."

Jay Puri, vice president of product marketing for Sun Microsystems Computer
Company (SMCC), said, "We are excited about the opportunities we see for SMCC
with UltraSPARC. Early testing is showing excellent results, and we fully
expect to see both outstanding SPEC benchmark performance and application
performance."

Unveiled on September 19, 1994, the 64-bit UltraSPARC is the first processor to
deliver the multimedia and data movement requirements of today's and tomorrow's
networked systems. It is the industry's first processor with on-chip multimedia
support for desktop video-conferencing, real-time MPEG-2 decompression, video
effects and texture-mapped triangle rendering. Its high scalar and high data
throughput design enables UltraSPARC to move data at a peak rate of 1.3
GBytes/second and, while employing the VISual Instruction Set (VIS), it can
operate at a rate of 1.67 GOps/second. The 5.2 million transistor design is
fabricated by Texas Instruments, Inc. at its billion-dollar advanced CMOS
fabrication facility in Dallas, Texas. UltraSPARC is manufactured using Texas
Instruments' advanced EPIC3, 0.5 micron CMOS process. EPIC3 is a
high-performance, low-voltage (3.3 volts), four-layer metal CMOS process.
UltraSPARC is packaged in a 521-pin BGA (ball grid array) package.

Pricing and Availability

UltraSPARC samples are available immediately. Production devices will be
available in Fall 1995 with pricing of the UltraSPARC-143 MHz (STP1030BGA-143)
at $1,095 and the UltraSPARC-167 MHz (STP1030BGA-167) at $1,595 in quantities
of 1,000. Sample pricing is higher. UltraSPARC Data Buffer (STP1080BGA) samples
are also available immediately with production availability in Fall 1995. The
UltraSPARC Data Buffers are priced at $85 in quantities of 1,000.

SPARC Technology Business, a division of Sun Microsystems, Inc., was formed in
April 1993 to develop, design and distribute SPARC technologies and products
worldwide. SPARC Technology Business' portfolio includes microprocessors,
chipsets, modules, boards, technology licenses, silicon and system packages and
consulting services. SPARC Technology Business has more than 400 employees
working in product development, engineering, marketing and international sales
and support. For more information on SPARC Technology Business access
http://www.sun.com/stb via a commercial browser interface.