Barry, Article...Motorola and Cyrix coming out with faster chips...
June 27, 1997 1:30 PM ET
New processors on tap from Motorola, Cyrix
By Lisa DiCarlo
ÿMotorola Corp.'s RISC Microprocessor Division and Cyrix Corp. will introduce new processors next week, but like everything else in the hardware industry, they will soon be eclipsed by higher-performance parts.
Motorola will introduce a 250MHz PowerPC 604e, sources said, and will follow that up in August with a 350MHz 604e and the first processor in the G3 family, code-named Arthur, sources said.
Meanwhile, Cyrix will introduce 166MHz and 180MHz versions of the MediaGX integrated processor for low-cost PCs. The Richardson, Texas, company is expected to follow later in the year with a 200MHz version and later with USB (Universal Serial Bus) and MMX versions.
The Motorola 250MHz 604e release follows its PowerPC counterpart: IBM Microelectronics Inc. released its 250MHz 604e in early May. IBM's chip is already in use in systems by Macintosh clone makers Power Computing Corp. and Umax Technology Inc.
Around the time the 604e hits 350MHz in August--during the Macworld trade show in Boston--Motorola and IBM will introduce Arthur, which comprises a new PowerPC design. The chip is built using a .18-micron process, which yields more chips per wafer.
Although the clock speed of Arthur will probably be slower than the 604e, it will run faster, due to the full-speed back-side cache and other major improvements to its architecture, sources said.
The faster MediaGX from Cyrix will be used in forthcoming Presario desktop PCs from Compaq Computer Corp., sources said. Cyrix officials declined to comment.
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I wouldn't count RISC completely out yet with a company as formidable as Motorola still in the game.
Michael |
