website/content/museum/altos-computer-systems-acs-8000.md

---
title: Altos Computer Systems ACS-8000
categories:
- Computers
types:
- Professional Computer
origins:
- U.S.A.
years:
- '1978'
cpus:
- Z80A
params:
  name: ACS-8000
  image: /media/museum/photos/altos_acs8000-12_1.jpg
  company: /companies/altos-computer-systems
  company_name: Altos Computer Systems
  specs:
  - label: NAME
    value: ACS-8000
  - label: MANUFACTURER
    value: Altos Computer Systems
  - label: TYPE
    value: Professional Computer
  - label: ORIGIN
    value: U.S.A.
  - label: YEAR
    value: '1978'
  - label: KEYBOARD
    value: Terminal keyboard
  - label: CPU
    value: Z80A
  - label: SPEED
    value: 4 Mhz
  - label: RAM
    value: From 32 kb to 208 kb
  - label: ROM
    value: Unknown
  - label: TEXT MODES
    value: Display features depend on the attached terminal
  - label: SIZE / WEIGHT
    value: designed to fit a standard 19
  - label: I/O PORTS
    value: several RS232 ports (depending on models), parallel
  - label: BUILT IN MEDIA
    value: |-
      8'' disk-drives : from 512 kb to 2 Mb\
      10, 20 or 40 Mb Winchester hard-disk (upgradable to 80 Mb)\
      17 Mb magnetic streamer (ACS-8000 MTU only)
  - label: OS
    value: CP/M, MP/M, MP/M II and Oasis
  - label: POWER SUPPLY
    value: Built-in PSU
  tabs:
  - photos
  - adverts
  - software
  forum_thread: 451
  photos:
  - title: ACS-8000-12
    subtitle: ''
    text: ''
    image: /media/museum/photos/altos_acs8000-12_1.jpg
  - title: INSIDE THE ACS-8000-12
    subtitle: ''
    text: ''
    image: /media/museum/photos/altos_acs8000-12_inside.jpg
  - title: REAR OF THE ACS-8000-12
    subtitle: ''
    text: ''
    image: /media/museum/photos/altos_acs8000-12_rear.jpg
  - title: REAR OF THE ACS 8000-2
    subtitle: ''
    text: ''
    image: /media/museum/photos/altos_acs8000-2_rear.jpg
  - title: REAR OF A ACS 8000-10
    subtitle: ''
    text: Apart from the big fan, we can see the ouputs for 6 terminals, i.e. 6 users.
    image: /media/museum/photos/altos_acs8000-10_rear.jpg
  - title: 8'' DISK-DRIVE
    subtitle: ''
    text: ''
    image: /media/museum/photos/altos_acs8000-2_8pouces_closeup.jpg
  - title: INSIDE AN ACS 8000-10
    subtitle: ''
    text: ''
    image: /media/museum/photos/altos_acs8000-10_inside.jpg
  - title: '"PLAYBOY" MODEL'
    subtitle: ''
    text: |-
      Ok, it's just a sticker...

      Picture courtesy of [Albert's Virtual Computer Museum](http://users.knoware.nl/users/stuurmn/).
    image: /media/museum/photos/altos_acs8000-playboy_1.jpg
  adverts:
  - title: U.S. ADVERT (1979)
    subtitle: ''
    text: |-
      The advert says:

      The new ASC8000-6 single board computer is packed with ultra-high technology: Z80 double density computer, up to 2048Kb of high speed RAM, Floppy-disk and Winchester Hard Disk controllers, DMA, up to 6 serial / 2 parallel I/O, optional 32 bit floating point processor... All on one board, fully socketed, fully documented, reliable and maintainable...
    image: /media/museum/pubs/altos_acs8000_pub_2.jpg
  - title: U.S. ADVERT (1980)
    subtitle: ''
    text: |-
      The advert says:

      The Altos ACS8000-6 series. It's a barrier breaker in every sense. Our entry level, single-user, hard-disk system with floppy backup is priced under $10,000...\
      ... With MP/M at the helm, your Altos system can support up to four simulteneous users with 48 KB RAM each plus 58 MB of Winchester storage and 4 MB of floppy backup. And that adds up to the first microcomputer to give you the power and performance of a minicomputer.
    image: /media/museum/pubs/altos_acs8000_pub_1.jpg
  - title: FRENCH ADVERT.
    subtitle: ''
    text: This advert was for the Serie 5 and the ACS-8000 systems.
    image: /media/museum/pubs/altos_serie5_pub.jpg
  - title: SPANISH ADVERT (MAY 1982)
    subtitle: ''
    text: ''
    image: /media/museum/pubs/altos_spanish-pub_1982.jpg
  screenshots:
  - title: FORTRAN SCREENSHOT ?!
    subtitle: ''
    text: This looks like a Fortran program...
    image: /media/museum/software/altos_acs8200_fortran_ss.jpg
  oc_id: 456
  source:
    url: https://web.archive.org/web/20230413211351/http://www.old-computers.com/museum/computer.asp?c=456
    date: '2023-04-13'
---

The ACS-8xxx were multi-user systems. They could support from 1 to 4 users, but you could also get them in versions for up to 9 users and a supervisor. In appearance, they were large and heavy rectangular desktop boxes with Z80 or 68000 CPUs (ACS-68000 series).

They used a large custom single-board computer the size of the case. The drive controller was a separate half-card mounted on top of the SBC. The early 8000s had separate cases for the 8" FD & HD. In later models the drives and cards were integrated into the same case.

The 8000 systems were labeled ACS-8000-x, where x indicates the size of the disk-drive and hard disk :

x=1 : 500 kb (SS/SD) FDD\
x=2 : 1000 kb (DS/SD) FDD\
x=3 : 1000 kb (SS/DD) FDD\
x=4 : 2000 kb (DS/DD) FDD\
x=10 : 10 Mb HD\
x=12 : 20 Mb HD\
x=14 : 40 Mb HD

The ACS-8000 had a 10, 20 or 40 MB Winchester hard-drive and could be upgraded to 80 MB. Hard-disk models also had disk-drives. CP/M, MP/M II or Oasis were the available operating systems.\
The ACS-8000 MTU had a 17 MB magnetic streamer.

The ACS-8000 was quite similar to the [Altos Serie 5](/museum/altos-computer-systems-serie-5/) but was more powerful.