The POWER2, originally named RIOS2, is a processor designed by IBM that implemented the POWER instruction set architecture. The POWER2 was the successor of the POWER1, debuting in September 1993 within IBM's RS/6000 systems. When introduced, the POWER2 was the fastest microprocessor, surpassing the Alpha 21064. When the Alpha 21064A was introduced in 1993, the POWER2 lost the lead and became second. IBM claimed that the performance for a 62.5 MHz POWER2 was 73.3 SPECint92 and 134.6 SPECfp92.
The open source GCC compiler removed support for POWER1 (RIOS) and POWER2 (RIOS2) in the 4.5 release.
Improvements over the POWER1 included enhancements to the POWER instruction set architecture (consisting of new user and system instructions and other system-related features), higher clock rates (55 to 71.5 MHz), an extra fixed point unit and floating point unit, a larger 32 KB instruction cache, and a larger 128 or 256 KB data cache. The POWER2 was a multi-chip design consisting of six or eight semi-custom integrated circuits, depending on the amount of data cache (the 256 KB configuration required eight chips). The partitioning of the design was identical to that of the POWER1: an instruction cache unit chip, a fixed-point unit chip, a floating-point unit chip, a storage control unit chip, and two or four data cache unit chips.
Last night as I lay dreaming of pleasant days gone by
Me mind being bent on rambling, to Ireland I did fly
I stepped on board a vision, and I followed with a will
'Til next I came to anchor at the cross at Spancil Hill
It being on the 23rd of June, the day before the fair
When Ireland's sons and daughters and friends assembled there
The young, the old, the brave and the bold came, their duty to fulfill
At the parish church in Clooney, a mile from Spancil Hill
I went to see me neighbors, to see what they might say
The old ones were all dead and gone, the young ones turning gray
But I met the tailor Quigley, he's as bold as ever still
Ah, he used to mend me britches when I lived in Spancil Hill
I paid a flying visit to my first and only love
She's as white as any lily, gentle as a dove
And she threw her arms around me saying, "Johnny, I love you still"
As she's Nell the farmer's daughter and the pride of Spancil Hill
I dreamed I held and kissed her as in the days of yore
Ah Johnny, you're only jokin', as many's the time before
Then the cock, he crew in the morning, he crew both loud and shrill