TO ALL FYI
Compaq may use Cyrix's Gx86 in sub-$1,000 desktop PCs
By Terho Uimonen
InfoWorld Electric
Posted at 2:27 PM PT, Oct 23, 1996
Compaq Computer Corp. by early next year plans to introduce a low-cost desktop PC built around Cyrix Corp.'s Gx86 chip, which offers performance similar to a 75-MHz Intel Corp. Pentium processor, sources close to the companies said.
The world's largest PC vendor is shooting for a retail price of below $1,000 for the desktop model, which it plans to introduce into the U.S. market and later roll out overseas.
Unlike the so-called thin-client Network Computers touted by vendors such as IBM, Oracle Corp., and Sun Microsystems Inc., the Compaq model will also have the same stand-alone capabilities as today's standard PCs, sources said.
By using the low-cost Cyrix chip, Compaq will be able to bring out a low-cost device that can run Microsoft Corp.'s Windows 95 operating system, include a hard drive and 16MB of DRAM, as well as a modem, and still hit the sub-$1,000 price point, they added.
Compaq officials at the company's headquarters in Houston declined to confirm or deny that the company is considering a Cyrix chip for its low-cost desktop models.
Last week, however, a Compaq executive said that a lower cost, better-managed traditional PC fits into the company's three-tier development strategy for 1997, which also includes a sealed PC device and a thin client.
"All three of these types of products are legitimate solutions for chipping away at the cost of ownership," said Bob Stearns, senior vice president of technology and corporate development at Compaq. "So we've got activities going on in all three buckets."
To trim traditional PC costs, Compaq will focus on software-based network manageability features as well as hardware savings, he said.
In addition, the PC vendor is looking to cut production costs by outsourcing the manufacturing of the low-cost PC. Compaq is currently negotiating a possible manufacturing deal with Taiwan's First International Computer Inc., sources said.
Cyrix, of Richardson, Texas, has not released many details of its Gx86 chip, but Taipei-based Tatung Co. last month showed off a working prototype of a network computer built around the same Gx86 chip at the World PC Expo 96 show in Chiba, Japan. Tatung said it will start shipping the NC by March next year.
The Gx86 chip houses a 120-MHz or 133-MHz Cyrix 5x86 CPU core, as well as 16K bits of Level 1 cache, a 64-bit DRAM controller, and a graphics subsystem with optimized Unified Memory Architecture support -- all on one piece of silicon that comes in a 352-pin BGA package, Tatung officials said.
Volume availability of the yet-to-be-announced Gx86 is expected to start in November, they added.
The TNC-1000 network computer supports Tatung's in-house developed Home OS, as well as Microsoft Corp.'s Windows 3.1, Windows 95, and DOS operating systems. The Tatung device also bears a strong resemblance to a general purpose PC. For example, the box will allow for optional built-in storage devices such as 3.5-inch floppy and hard drives, giving the box stand-alone PC capabilities, officials said.
Tatung will aim for a retail price point of $500, for a device without monitor and local storage options, when it starts shipping the device worldwide in March of next year, officials added.
Cyrix and FIC officials could not be reached for comment.
Compaq is at compaq.com; Cyrix is at cyrix.com.
Terho Uimonen is a Taipei-based correspondent with the IDG News Service, an InfoWorld affiliate. Carolyn April contributed to this report.
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