Alpha 21164 Microprocessor

The Alpha 21164 is the second-generation 64-bit Alpha RISC microprocessor. Before the 21264 became the standard for Alpha Processor's UP1000 and UP2000 boards, the 21164 was the workhorse behind a generation of Alpha workstations and servers, shipping in speeds up to 666MHz.

Architecture highlights

• Four-way superscalar, in-order execution 64-bit RISC core
• On-chip 8KB instruction cache and 8KB data cache (L1)
• On-chip 96KB unified second-level (L2) cache
• Support for a large off-chip third-level (L3) cache
• Full 64-bit integer and IEEE floating-point pipelines

Where the 21164 fits today

Alpha Processor's current motherboards — the UP1000 and UP2000 — are built around the newer, faster Alpha 21264 and 21264A processors, which offer significantly higher memory and cache bandwidth than the 21164. Existing 21164-based systems remain fully supported under Linux for Alpha.