• 1988

Hardware Description

As a mid-size machine, NEC marketed the ACOS System 3400 (hereafter referred to as the S3400) as the successor of the ACOS System 430 in July 1988. The S3400 was a mid-size general-purpose computer which had a very compact CPU cabinet (housing the CPU and peripheral processing unit) with a set-up area of 0.68 square meters and a height of 1.3 meters, greater compactness with a height of 1.3 meters, and an improved cost-performance ratio. This was achieved by employing the latest VLSI technology -- such as high-speed ultra high-integration custom CMOS VLSI with 50,000 gates per chip and a delay time of 0.7 nanoseconds per gate, and high-speed high-integration CMOS gate arrays with 24,000 gates per chip and a delay time per gate of 1 nanosecond -- as well as high-density mounting technology such as VLSI surface mounting and 3-dimensional mounting of memory.