Intel 8085

An Intel 8085AH processor.
Produced From 1977 to 1990s
Common manufacturer(s) Intel and several others
Max. CPU clock 3,5 and 6 MHz
Instruction set pre x86
Package(s) 40 pin DIP


The Intel 8085 is an 8-bit microprocessor introduced by

Intel in 1977. It was binary-compatible with the more-famous Intel 8080 but required less supporting hardware, thus allowing simpler and less expensive microcomputer systems to be built.The "5" in the model number came from the fact that the 8085 required only a +5-volt (V) power supply rather than the +5V, -5V and +12V supplies the 8080 needed. Both processors were sometimes used in computers running the CP/M operating system, and the 8085 later saw use as a microcontroller (much by virtue of its component

count reducing feature). Both designs were eclipsed
for desktop computers by the compatible but more
capable Zilog Z80, which took over most of the CP/
M computer market as well as taking a large share of
the booming home computer market in the early-to-mid-1980s.

The 8085 had a very long life as a controller. Once designed into such products as the DECtape controller and the VT100 video terminal in the late 1970s, it continued to serve for new production throughout the life span of those products (generally many times longer than the new manufacture lifespan of desktop computers).