Acorn Archimedes 310

 Home > Browse Our Collection > Computers > Acorn Computers > Acorn Archimedes 310
 

The A305 and A310 were launched in June 1987. It was the first RISC CPU based computer in the world. There were 2 models, the A305 and the A310. The A305 could be upgraded to the A310 specification.

The RISC-based A310 excelled on integer programs, but the lack of FPU showed up in the 'Savage' benchmark, where slow IEEE-754 compatible emulation routines in the C library hurt the performance. Remarkably, the A310 could run Savage in interpreted BASIC in 32.8 seconds, only about 50% slower than the Compaq Deskpro 386 equipped with a 80287 math coprocessor.

The A310 ran an operating system called Arthur. It was based on earlier OS Acorn wrote in 1979 for the BBC Micro, a 6502-based PC. Arthur was quite modern for a PC and included features like modularity between the OS and file system (two different file systems were supported), a graphical user interface (GUI) called Desktop, and a built in scripting language. A310 was installed with an ARM2 processor and 1 MB RAM

From the Archimedes brochure:
"The Archimedes 310 personal workstation - world beating technology in an affordable microcomputer. The Archimedes range of microcomputers represents a British breakthrough in the application of RISC technology to personal computing. Acorn has designed and developed the RISC microchip for the Archimedes range to bring practical benefits to all microcomputer users.

Acclaimed at its launch with the British Microcomputing Awards 'Micro of the Year' title, the Archimedes system has also won the 1988 TOBIE award for Best New Technology Application of the Year. In the words of Personal Computer World magazine, The fact is that the ARM chip is amazing, and the Archimedes which uses it is equally wonderful."

CENTRAL PROCESSING UNIT
ARM (Acorn RISC Machine) 32-bit microprocessor using Reduced
Instruction Set Computer technology.
A typical execution rate of 4 MIPS (Million Instructions Per Second) makes the
Archimedes system the world's fastest microcomputer in its class to date.
MEMORY
1 Megabyte of fully addressable built-in RAM.
Complex software applications to run from RAM without frequent delays for disc reading.
Long documents and large quantities of data to be held in memory for faster processing.
512 kbytes of ROM store the complete operating system and the BASIC programming environment, along with the window driven user interface.
The Archimedes system is ready to run as soon as you switch on. You do not have to load the operating system from disc.
Storing the operating system in ROM makes more RAM available for applications."

Our model was kindly donated by Roy Child.

Manufacturer: Acorn
Date: 1987

Comments for Acorn Archimedes 310 :



Comment on This Page

Magazines RELATED to Acorn Archimedes 310 in our Library

Item Manufacturer Date
Personal Computer World - August 1987 1 Aug 1987
Archive - Vol 1, No 1 - October 1987 Norwich Computer Services Oct 1987
Archive - Vol 1, No 2 - November 1987 Norwich Computer Services Nov 1987
Archive - Vol 1, No 3 - December 1987 Norwich Computer Services Dec 1987
Archive - Vol 1, No 4 - January 1988 Norwich Computer Services Jan 1988
Archive - Vol 1, No 5 - February 1988 Norwich Computer Services Jan 1988
Byte January 1988 Jan 1988
Personal Computer World - January 1988 1 Jan 1988
Archive - Vol 1, No 6 - March 1988 Norwich Computer Services Mar 1988
Archive - Vol 1, No 7 - April 1988 Norwich Computer Services Apr 1988
Archive - Vol 1, No 8 - May 1988 Norwich Computer Services May 1988
Archive - Vol 1, No 9 - June 1988 Norwich Computer Services Jun 1988
Archive - Vol 1, No 10 - July 1988 Norwich Computer Services Jul 1988
Archive - Vol 1, No 11 - August 1988 Norwich Computer Services Aug 1988
Archive - Vol 1, No 12 - September 1988 Norwich Computer Services Sep 1988
Personal Computer World - January 1989 1 Jan 1989
PC World Focus March 1989 Number 1 Personal Computer World Mar 1989
Personal Computer World - March 1989 1 Mar 1989
Personal Computer World - April 1989 1 Apr 1989
Acorn - Higher Education News 2 - Summer 1989 Acorn Computers Limited May 1989
Personal Computer World - July 1989 Jul 1989
Personal Computer World - November 1989 1 Nov 1989
Personal Computer World - February 1990 1 Feb 1990

Other Systems Related To Acorn Archimedes 310:

Item Manufacturer Date
Acorn NetStation Proton Xavier Acorn Computers Unknown
Acorn 6502 Microcomputer Board Acorn Computers Ltd 1979
Acorn System 1 Acorn Computers March 1979
Acorn System 1 Acorn Computers Ltd March 1979
Acorn System 1 (Chris Turner) Acorn Computers Ltd March 1979
Acorn System 3 Acorn 1980
Acorn Atom (Blue Box) Acorn 1980
Acorn Atom (White Box) Acorn 1980
Black Acorn Atom Acorn January 1980
Acorn BBC Micro Model A (Issue 2 Board) Acorn Computers Ltd 1981
Acorn BBC Micro Model A - Issue 1 Acorn 1981
Acorn BBC Micro Model B Hong Kong Acorn 1981
Acorn BBC Micro Model A Acorn 1981
Acorn BBC Micro Model B Acorn 1981
Busicomputers Prophet 3 Acorn Computers Ltd 1982
Acorn System 4 Acorn Computers Ltd 1982
German BBC Micro (GNB09) Acorn 1982
Busicomputers Prophet 2 Acorn 1983
Acorn Cambridge Workstation Acorn 1983
Acorn Business Computer (ABC) (Prototype) Acorn Computers 1983
Acorn System 5 Acorn Computers Ltd 1983
Acorn Business Computer (ABC 110) Acorn 1983
Acorn Electron (Trial ROM From Astec) Acorn Computers Ltd May 1983
Acorn Electron with Turbo Board Acorn July 1983
Acorn Electron (Box with Tile Design) Acorn July 1983
Acorn Electron (Production Mock Up) Acorn Computers Ltd July 1983
Acorn Electron (Trial ROM) Acorn Computers Ltd July 1983
Acorn Electron Acorn July 1983
Acorn Electron (German) Acorn July 1983
BBC Micro B+ 128K + 48K ROM Acorn 1984
Acorn BBC Micro Model B+ 64K (Acorn R&D) Acorn 1984
US BBC Micro (UNB09) Acorn October 1984
Acorn BBC Micro Model B+ (128K) Acorn July 1985
Acorn BBC Micro Model B+ (64K) Acorn July 1985
Acorn Econet Terminal Acorn Computers Ltd 1986
BBC Master Used on Microlive Acorn Computers 1986
Acorn BBC Master 512 Acorn 1986
Acorn A500 Acorn 1986
Acorn BBC Domesday System Acorn Computers Ltd 1986
Acorn BBC Master 128 Acorn February 1986
Acorn - BT Merlin M2105 Acorn Computers / British Telecom 13th May 1986
Acorn BBC Master Compact Acorn September 1986
Acorn BBC Master Compact Prototype Acorn Computers September 1986
Acorn Archimedes A410/1 Acorn 1987
Acorn AEH02 Archimedes NSM Acorn Computers Ltd 1987
Acorn Archimedes 305 Acorn 1987
Acorn Archimedes 310 (Arthur 1.2 Installed) Acorn 1987
Acorn Archimedes 440 Acorn Computers July 1987
Acorn A680 Acorn 1988
Acorn Archimedes A500 Acorn 1988
Acorn A3000 Acorn 1989
Acorn Archimedes A440/1 Serial No. 1000001 Acorn Computers May 1989
Acorn Archimedes A440/1 Acorn Computers May 1989
Acorn A3000 (Learning Curve Box) Acorn May 1989
Acorn A3000 (Original Spec) Acorn Computers 1st May 1989
Acorn A3000 Laservision System Acorn 1st May 1989
Acorn R140 Acorn June 1989
Acorn R260 Acorn Computers 1990
Acorn A5000 ALB55 Acorn 1991
Acorn A5000 ALB35 Acorn 1991
Acorn A4000 Acorn January 1991
Acorn A4 Laptop (Prototype 1 of 7) Acorn Computers 1992
Acorn A4 Laptop Acorn 1992
Acorn A3020 Acorn January 1992
Acorn A4000 Acorn September 1992
Acorn A3010 Acorn September 1992
Semerc Acorn A4000S Acorn September 1992
Acorn Risc PC 600 Prototype Motherboard Acorn Computers 1994
Acorn Risc PC 600 Acorn April 1994
Acorn Risc PC 600 ACB25 Acorn April 1994
Acorn Risc PC 600 ACB45 Acorn April 1994
Acorn RISC PC 600 (Proto 6) Acorn 1995
Acorn RISC PC 600 - Prototype Acorn Computers 1995
Acorn A7000+ Acorn 1995
Acorn A7000 Acorn 1995
Acorn SchoolServer Acorn Ltd 1995
Acorn RISC PC700 System Acorn July 1995
Acorn Risc PC 600 ACB60 Acorn July 1995
Acorn StrongARM RiscPC Acorn 1996
Acorn Stork Notebook Acorn Computers Ltd 1996
Acorn Xemplar Matrix NC Acorn 1996
Acorn Fast NC - Serial Number 1 Acorn Computers Ltd 1996
Acorn NetStation NC Acorn November 1996
Acorn Phoebe Acorn Computers 1998
Acorn DeskLite Prototype Acorn Computers June 1998

This exhibit has a reference ID of CH6332. Please quote this reference ID in any communication with the Centre for Computing History.

 

Acorn Archimedes 310

  Book Archive   [8]
  Games Archive   [310]
  Software Archive   [535]
  Peripherals   [259]
  Promotional Items   [8]

Click on the Image(s) For Detail


Articles

Related Video

Andrew Hutchings - Interview - Early 3D Games for the Acorn Archimedes
Andrew Hutchings - Interview - Early 3D Games for the Acorn Archimedes

Help support the museum by buying from the museum shop

View all items

Founding Sponsors
redgate Google ARM Real VNC Microsoft Research
Heritage Lottery Funded
Heritage Lottery Fund
Accredited Museum