Editing IBM 801 (section)

==The Cheetah, Panther, and America projects==
In the early 1980s, the lessons learned on the 801 were combined with those from the [[IBM Advanced Computer Systems project|IBM Advanced Computer Systems]] project, resulting in an experimental processor called "Cheetah". Cheetah was a 2-way [[superscalar processor]], which evolved into a processor called "Panther" in 1985, and finally into a 4-way superscalar design called "America" in 1986.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Shen |first1=John Paul |title=Modern Processor Design: Fundamentals of Superscalar Processors |last2=Lipasti |first2=Mikko H. |publisher=McGraw-Hill |year=2005 |contributor-last=Smotherman |contributor-first=Mark |contribution=Survey of Superscalar Processors}}</ref> This was a three-chip processor set including an instruction processor that fetches and decodes instructions, a fixed-point processor that shares duty with the instruction processor, and a floating-point processor for those systems that require it. Designed by the 801 team, the final design was sent to IBM's Austin office in 1986, where it was developed into the [[IBM RS/6000]] system. The RS/6000 running at 25&nbsp;MHz was one of the fastest machines of its era. It outperformed other RISC machines by two to three times on common tests, and easily outperformed older CISC systems.{{sfn|Cocke|Markstein|1990|p=9}}

After the RS/6000, the company turned its attention to a version of the 801 concepts that could be efficiently fabricated at various scales. The result was the [[IBM POWER instruction set architecture]] and the [[PowerPC]] offshoot.