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Zilog Z8000

Zilog Z8000

Zilog Z8000 microprocessor technical specifications

Developed by: Zilog
Launched: 1979
ALU bits: 16

A 16-bit microprocessor with a completely orthogonal register set, featuring a user mode and a supervisory mode.

Its architecture was designed by Bernard Peuto, while the logic and physical execution were carried out by Masatoshi Shima.

The Z8000 was not compatible with the Z80, so it didn't benefit from a large software package.
However, there was a version of the Xenix operating system for the Z8000.

It wasn't widely implemented, beyond some Olivetti models: Linea 1 S1000, S6000, M20, M30, M40, M50, and M60.
And the Commodore 900 project, which was canceled.

It was released between the Intel 8086 (April 1978) and the Motorola 68000 (September 1979), and then the Intel 80286 appeared, which would eventually prevail in the 16-bit processor wars.

A later 32-bit version called the Z80000 was designed in 1984 with very advanced features for the time (on-chip cache and on-chip paged memory management unit), as well as the Z8070 floating-point coprocessor. However, neither were ever commercially released.

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Zilog Z8000 contemporary microprocessors


Manufacturer: Intel
Launched: 1978
Bits: 16
Clock: 4.77 MHz
Transistors: 29 000
Technology: 3 nanometers

The first 16-bit microprocessor designed by Intel.
It was the first member of the popular x86 architecture, used to this day.

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Manufacturer: Motorola
Launched: 1979
Bits: 16
Clock: 2 MHz
Transistors: 68 000
Technology: 3 nanometers

It takes its name from the number of transistors it contains.
It was the first in a family of microprocessors that included the Motorola 68008, Motorola 68010, Motorola 68020, Motorola 68030, Motorola 68040, and Motorola 68060 microchips. It was also known as the 68k.
It powered the popular Commodore Amiga and Atari ST computers, and the first Macintosh computers.
It also powered the Sharp X68000 (sold only in Japan) and the first Capcom arcade video game motherboards.

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Manufacturer: Intel
Launched: 1979
Bits: 16
Clock: 4.77 MHz
Transistors: 29 000
Technology: 3 nanometers

A reduced-cost version of the Intel 8086 with a data bus reduced to 8 bits so that it could use circuitry from previous-generation computer manufacturers and thus reduce computer costs.

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