POWER3

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Power Architecture

CPU architecture

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Historical

POWERPPC6xxPowerPC-ASPOWER2POWER3G4POWER4GekkoAIM alliance

Current

PowerPCe200e300e500e600PA6TPOWER5POWER6PPC4xxPPC750PPC970CBEAXenonBroadway

Future

POWER7e700Titan

Related Links

RISCSystem pSystem iPower.orgPAPRPRePCHRPmore...

Dual 375 MHz IBM POWER3-II processors on the CPU module of a RS/6000 44P 270.
Dual 375 MHz IBM POWER3-II processors on the CPU module of a RS/6000 44P 270.

The POWER3 chip is a CPU, designed and exclusevely manufactured by IBM, that implements the 32/64-bit PowerPC instruction set architecture, including all of the optional instructions of the ISA (at the time) such as the POWER2. Released on 5 October 1998, it had two floating-point units, three fixed-point units, and two load-store units. It was originally supposed to be called the PowerPC 630 but was renamed, probably to differentiate the server oriented POWER processors it replaced from the more consumer oriented 32-bit PowerPCs.

POWER3 was used in IBM RS/6000 servers and workstations at 200 MHz. It had 15 million transistors on a 270 mm² die. Its successor, the POWER3-II was manufactured in a copper based process at .25 μm and reached 450 MHz on a 170 mm² die.

POWER3-II was succeeded by the POWER4.

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