Cyrix: Gone However Not Forgotten

Most of you’re little question accustomed to Intel, AMD, Qualcomm, IBM, Texas Devices, and probably even VIA – however there’s one other precursor chipmaker it is best to learn about: Cyrix.

For the higher a part of a decade, Cyrix introduced the world of non-public computing to hundreds of thousands within the type of attainable price range PCs. Nonetheless, the corporate was finally killed by its finest product, and that chip’s incapacity to run a preferred recreation, adopted by a disastrous merger with a bigger associate.

The early Nineteen Nineties was a wonderful however unusual time for the desktop computing business.

Intel appeared to be successful the fierce competitors within the microprocessor area; Apple had switched to IBM’s PowerPC structure, whereas Motorola’s 68K chips have been slowly dragging Commodore’s Amiga PC to the grave. Arm was solely a tiny flame sparked by Apple and some others, nearly completely centered on growing a processor for the notorious Newton.

Throughout this era, AMD was liberating its processors from the damaging aura of being second-sourced from Intel. After cloning a couple of extra generations of Intel CPUs, AMD developed its personal structure, which by the top of the nineties was well-regarded for its value and efficiency.

This was across the similar time that AMD was liberating its processors from the damaging aura of being second-sourced from Intel. After cloning a couple of extra generations of Intel CPUs, AMD got here up with its personal structure, which by the top of the nineties was well-regarded for its value and efficiency.

That success might be attributed at the least partially to Cyrix, who had a window of alternative to seize the house PC market and go away each Intel and AMD within the mud, however finally did not execute and rapidly disappeared into the tech graveyard.

Modest Beginnings

Cyrix was based in 1988 by Jerry Rogers and Tom Brightman, beginning as a producer of high-speed x87 math co-processors for 286 and 386 CPUs. These have been among the biggest minds to go away Texas Devices, they usually had excessive ambitions to tackle Intel and beat them at their very own recreation.

Rogers launched into an aggressive pursuit to seek out the very best engineers within the US and have become an infamously hard-driving chief for a crew of 30 individuals tasked with the inconceivable.

The corporate’s first math coprocessors outperformed Intel equivalents by about 50% whereas additionally being cheaper. This made it doable to pair an AMD 386 CPU with a Cyrix FastMath co-processor and get 486-like efficiency at a lower cost. This caught the business’s consideration and inspired Rogers to take the subsequent step and pursue the CPU market.

In 1992, Cyrix unveiled its first CPUs, the 486SLC and 486DLC, which have been supposed to compete with Intel’s 486SX and 486DX. They have been additionally pin-compatible with the 386SX and 386DX, which means they might be used as drop-in upgrades on ageing 386 motherboards. Producers additionally used them to promote price range laptops.

Each variants supplied barely worse efficiency than an Intel 486 CPU however considerably higher efficiency than a 386 CPU.

The Cyrix 486 DLC could not compete with Intel’s 486SX clock-for-clock, but it surely was a completely 32-bit chip with 1KB of L1 cache, and it price considerably much less.

On the time, fanatics beloved that they may use a 486DLC working at 33 MHz to attain comparable efficiency to an Intel 486SX working at 25 MHz. Nonetheless, it wasn’t with out issues, because it might result in stability points on older motherboards that did not have additional cache management traces or a CPU register management to allow or disable the on-board cache.

Cyrix additionally developed a “direct substitute” variant known as the Cx486DRu2, and in 1994 launched a “clock doubled” model known as the Cx486DRx2, which had the cache coherency circuitry built-in into the CPU itself.

By then, nevertheless, Intel had launched its first Pentium CPU, which drove 486DX2 costs right down to the purpose the place the Cyrix different misplaced its attraction. It grew to become cheaper to improve to a 486 motherboard than to purchase a Cyrix improve processor for an outdated 386 motherboard. When the “clock tripled” 486DX4 arrived in 1995, it was too little, too late.

Massive PC producers akin to Acer and Compaq weren’t satisfied by Cyrix’s 486 CPUs and as an alternative opted for AMD’s 486 processors. This did not cease Intel from spending years in courtroom alleging that the Cx486 violated its patents, although Intel by no means gained a case.

Cyrix and Intel finally settled outdoors of courtroom, with Intel agreeing that Cyrix had the suitable to fabricate its personal x86 designs in foundries that held an Intel cross-license, akin to Texas Devices, IBM, and SGS Thomson (later STMicroelectronics).

By no means Repeat the Similar Trick Twice… Except You Are Cyrix

Intel launched the Pentium processor in 1993, based mostly on a brand new P5 microarchitecture and eventually arising with a market-friendly identify that many customers might relate to and suggest. Extra importantly, it raised the bar when it comes to efficiency, ushering in a brand new period of non-public computing.

The novel superscalar structure allowed it to finish two directions per clock cycle. A 64-bit exterior knowledge bus made it doable to learn and write extra knowledge with every reminiscence entry. The quicker floating-point unit was able to as much as 15 instances the throughput of the 486 FPU, amongst different enhancements.

Intel launched the Pentium processor in 1993, based mostly on a brand new P5 microarchitecture and eventually arising with a market-friendly identify.

Cyrix took on the problem to but once more create a center floor for Socket 3 motherboards that weren’t in a position to deal with the brand new Pentium CPU, even earlier than that mannequin was able to ship. That center floor was the Cyrix 5×86, which at 75 MHz supplied most of the options of fifth-generation processors just like the Pentium and AMD’s K5.

Cyrix 5×86 CPU with heatsink. Picture: NostalgiaNerd

Cyrix even produced 100 MHz and 133 MHz variations, however they did not ship all of the marketed performance-enhancing options, as enabling these options precipitated instability. Overclocking potential was restricted. These variations have been short-lived, and inside six months Cyrix determined to cease promoting them and moved on to a unique processor design.

Peak Cyrix By way of the Lens of Quake

In 1996, Cyrix unveiled the 6×86 (M1) processor, which was anticipated to be yet one more drop-in substitute for older Intel CPUs on Socket 5 and Socket 7 motherboards with first rate efficiency. However this wasn’t simply an improve path for price range methods, it was really slightly marvel in CPU design that was thought to do the inconceivable – it mixed a RISC core with most of the design features of a CISC one.

The 6×86 additionally continued to make use of native x86 execution and unusual microcode, whereas Intel’s Pentium Professional and the AMD K5 relied on dynamic translation to micro-operations.

The chip was pin-compatible with the Intel P54C and had six variants with a complicated naming scheme that was supposed to point the anticipated efficiency stage, however wasn’t an precise indicator of clock pace.

For example, the 6×86 PR166+ solely ran at 133 MHz however was marketed as being equal to or higher than a Pentium working at 166 MHz, a method AMD would replicate in a while.

Nonetheless, the 6×86 recognized itself as a 486 CPU as a result of it did not help the complete Intel P5 instruction set. This rapidly grew to become a problem as most software improvement was slowly migrating in the direction of P5 Pentium-specific optimizations to squeeze extra efficiency utilizing the brand new directions.

Cyrix finally improved compatibility with the Pentium and Pentium Professional by means of the 6x86MX and 6x86MII variants.

An enormous promoting level of the 6×86 was that its integer efficiency was considerably higher than the Pentium’s, which was a very good benefit when most functions and video games relied on integer operations. For some time, Cyrix even tried to cost a premium for that added efficiency, however finally, that technique fell aside.

Cyrix 6x86MX CPU die shot

Because it turned out, the FPU (floating-point unit) of the 6×86 was solely a barely modified model of Cyrix’s 80387 coprocessor, and as such, it was considerably slower than the brand new FPU design built-in by Intel’s Pentium and Pentium Professional.

To be truthful, it was nonetheless wherever between two and 4 instances quicker than the Intel 80486 FPU, and the Cyrix 6×86 bested the Intel choices in general efficiency. However that equation broke down when software program builders, significantly these making 3D video games, noticed the rising recognition of the Pentium and selected to optimize their code in meeting language round the benefits of the P5 FPU.

When id Software program launched Quake in 1996, PC avid gamers utilizing 6×86 processors found they have been getting subpar body charges, reaching at most an unplayable 15 frames per second except they dropped the decision right down to 320 x 200.

In that case, you’d want a top-of-the-line Cyrix 6x86MX PR2/200 CPU to get a playable 29 frames per second. In the meantime, avid gamers with Intel methods had no downside working the sport at playable body charges even at 640 x 480.

Legendary recreation developer John Carmack discovered he might overlap integer and floating-point operations on Pentium chips, as they used completely different components of the P5 core for every part besides instruction loading. That method did not work on the Cyrix core, which uncovered the weak spot of its FPU. Reviewers on the time discovered that in each different benchmark or efficiency check, the 6×86 CPU would leapfrog the Pentium by 30 to 40 %.

Again within the mid-90s, nobody knew the precise route computing would take, and Cyrix thought it finest to prioritize integer efficiency. This determination resulted in a processor missing instruction pipelining, a characteristic that will grow to be important for desktop CPUs. Instruction pipelining is a method that divides duties right into a set of smaller operations, that are then executed by completely different components of the processor concurrently in a extra environment friendly style. The FPU of the Pentium processor was pipelined, resulting in very low latency for floating-point calculations to deal with the graphics of Quake.

The issue was straightforward to unravel, and software program builders launched patches for his or her functions and video games. Nonetheless, id Software program had spent an excessive amount of time designing Quake across the P5 microarchitecture and by no means offered such a repair.

AMD’s K5 and K6 CPUs fared slightly higher than Cyrix’s, however they have been nonetheless inferior to Intel’s choices when it got here to Quake, which was a very standard recreation and a flagship amongst a brand new breed of 3D titles.

This precipitated Cyrix CPUs to be harshly judged on that efficiency hole, and the corporate misplaced credibility within the eyes of many fanatics. As a result of Cyrix had been unable to attain contracts with giant PC OEMs, it was a very onerous blow for Cyrix’s fierce buyer base, which was made up of those self same fanatics.

To make issues worse, Cyrix was a fabless chip maker that relied on third events to fabricate its processors, and people firms used their most superior traces for their very own merchandise. Because of this, Cyrix processors have been manufactured on a 600 nm course of node, whereas Intel’s have been 300 nm.

Effectivity suffered, and because of this Cyrix CPUs had a status for getting extraordinarily sizzling – a lot in order that fanatics have been designing hotplates utilizing them as a warmth aspect. They have been overly delicate to low-quality energy provides, and their overclocking potential was restricted. Nonetheless, that did not cease individuals (like this writer, whose second PC had a Cyrix 6×86-P166+ CPU inside) from pushing them just a bit bit and slowly main them to their demise.

The Fall of the First True Rival to Intel’s CPU Hegemony

By 1997, Cyrix had tried every part in its energy to forge partnerships with firms like Compaq and HP, as integrating its CPUs into their methods would have generated a gradual revenue stream. It additionally tried suing Intel for infringing its patents on energy administration and register renaming methods, however the matter was rapidly settled with a mutual cross-license settlement, permitting the 2 companies to remain centered on producing higher CPUs.

A well-known Nationwide Semiconductor advert

The litigation took a toll on the already cash-strapped firm. Confronted with the prospect of chapter, Cyrix agreed to merge with Nationwide Semiconductor. This was seen as a blessing. The corporate would lastly have entry to correct manufacturing crops and a robust advertising crew able to scoring giant contracts. The IBM manufacturing agreements held on for some time, however Cyrix finally moved all manufacturing to Nationwide Semiconductor.

Confronted with the prospect of chapter, Cyrix agreed to be merged into Nationwide Semiconductor.

But because it seems, this transfer sealed Cyrix’s destiny. Nationwide Semiconductor wasn’t excited about making excessive efficiency PC components, and as an alternative wished low-power SoCs (system on a chip).

Certain sufficient, Cyrix got here up with the universally-hated 5×86 MediaGX, a chip that built-in features like audio, video, and reminiscence controller with a 5×86 core working at 120 or 133 MHz.

It was a low performer, but it surely managed to persuade Compaq to make use of it of their low-end Presario computer systems. This whetted different OEMs’ appetites for 6×86 CPUs, with Packard Bell and eMachines as notable examples.

The shift in focus did not cease Cyrix from making an attempt to supply extra high-performance CPUs, but it surely delivered guarantees and little else. Nationwide Semiconductor finally offered Cyrix to Taiwan-based chipset maker VIA Applied sciences, however by then key individuals had already left, and the MII CPU was an uninteresting half that discovered no consumers.

The final Cyrix design was the MII-433GP, which ran at 300 MHz and, due to the unlucky naming scheme, ended up in comparisons with processors that ran at 433 MHz, which have been vastly superior. AMD and Intel have been busy racing to 1 GHz and past, and it could take 20 extra years for Arm to return alongside and problem the 2 giants within the desktop and server markets – to not point out completely dominate cellular computing.

VIA put the ultimate nail within the coffin by utilizing the Cyrix identify to interchange “Centaur” branding on processors that really used an IDT-designed WinChip3 core. Nationwide Semiconductor saved promoting the MediaGX for a couple of extra years earlier than rebranding it as Geode and promoting the design to AMD in 2003.

Three years later, AMD demonstrated the world’s lowest-power x86-compatible CPU, which took solely 0.9 watts of energy and was based mostly on the Geode core, a testomony to the ingenuity of the Cyrix design crew.

Three years later, AMD demonstrated the world’s lowest-power x86-compatible CPU, which took solely 0.9 watts of energy and was based mostly on the Geode core, a testomony to the ingenuity of the Cyrix design crew.

Why Cyrix’s Legacy Issues

Whether or not or not you ever owned a Cyrix-powered PC, the corporate must be remembered for its legacy and classes realized.

Regardless of its comparatively small affect on the business throughout its decade of existence, Cyrix’s failures proved that enhancing IPC (instructions-per-clock) was a extra productive endeavor for chipmakers in comparison with enhancing uncooked clock speeds.

Cyrix operated as a fabless firm earlier than that was cool.

To at the present time, Intel and AMD have tried to push nominal clock speeds larger with every technology, however after the three GHz milestone, many of the actual enhancements have come from rethinking core components of their microarchitectures (and caches). A notable instance is AMD’s Zen development, which introduced single-threaded efficiency enhancements of 68% in lower than 4 years.

Cyrix was in a position to survive and overcome quite a lot of authorized (and by extension, monetary) stress from Intel, who sued nearly everybody within the CPU area within the Nineteen Nineties.

It confirmed on two events that litigation is detrimental to a wholesome market whereas cross-licensing offers result in quite a lot of cross-pollination between engineering efforts at completely different firms, which proved helpful.

Cyrix additionally operated as a fabless firm earlier than that was cool. Nowadays it is normal observe for many silicon giants, together with the likes of AMD, Qualcomm, Broadcom, Nvidia, Apple, Marvell, Unigroup China, and HiSilicon, who rely upon different firms like TSMC to fabricate their chips.

The corporate’s advertising technique was by no means nice earlier than the Nationwide Semiconductor merger, and AMD would repeat the identical errors with Athlon and Sempron processors within the 2000s.

These have been labeled to point that they have been quicker than an Intel processor whereas working at a decrease clock pace, however that did not all the time translate effectively in benchmarks or real-world efficiency assessments. AMD dropped that scheme, however suffice it to say, issues stay a bit complicated to at the present time.

Right now, it is unlikely you may discover a Cyrix processor outdoors of gold reclaiming operations and fanatics’ classic laptop collections. There’s some proof on-line that Cyrix-based desktops have been in expend till at the least 2010, which means they lingered for an additional decade after the corporate had basically dissolved into VIA Know-how’s portfolio. It is unlikely that VIA’s Zhaoxin arm nonetheless makes use of something from the unique Cyrix design, however solely time will inform in the event that they realized the teachings to honor Cyrix’s legacy.

Word: This characteristic was initially printed on December 2021. We now have revised its content material a number of instances and bumped it on account of its historic significance and old-fashioned computing nature, as a part of our #ThrowbackThursday initiative.