PERQ PublicityJump Over Left Menu
PERQ Display Boards
PERQ Hardware
This board gives a good schematic of the PERQ hardware and the main points:
-
CPU and Memory
- 16 bit ALU up to 1 Million PASCAL P-codes/sec
- 4K of 48 bit Writeable Control Store
- 256 Kbytes of 680ns cycle time
-
Input/Output
- Z80 Microprocessor controlling
- RS232
- GPIB
- IEEE 488
- Speech Output
-
Storage
- 24Mbyte Winchester disc
- 1Mbyte floppy drive
The Winchester drive is mounted vertically and takes up the whole of the cabinet. The 4K WCS (Writable Control Store) was a major problem early on being only sufficient for handling the PASCAL P-codes so any other extensions or change of operating system needed a larger control store. The 256 Kbyte memory soon got increased to 512 Kbytes and eventually 1 Mbyte.
PERQ Hardware, March 1981
Large View
