Bigeye #5: Cyrix 6x86 PR166+

Created on May 24, 2020
Indexed on August 24, 2022 at 04:11 PM

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What happened? After seeing some Pentium CPUs at work, suddenly we're burdened with something that struggles a bit with Quake. It turns out Socket 7 CPUs from other manufacturers don't have FPUs that can match up with the Pentium.

It wouldn't be until 1999 that a CPU rivaling Intel's Pentium lineup with a powerful FPU would enter the market. That will be covered later; for now, let's focus on this Cyrix thing!

Non-Intel CPU manufacturers often compared themselves against the Pentium in ALU performance. PR166 indicates this CPU is supposed to compare to a 166MHz Pentium. POST may not report this, but the true clock of this CPU is 133MHz, so it may be more efficient on that front.

While AMD would eventually rise up as a powerhouse in the CPU market, Cyrix did not have this fortune. The brand was eventually forgotten by all except those who fought the future with it to the bitter end.

Intel's 430VX chipset is in use here. Although it is the lower end counterpart to the 430HX released around the same time, it actually tends to be the consumer-oriented chipsets the get some of the new hardware features, SDRAM in this case.

Both 430VX and 430HX reduce the number of wait states in EDO RAM to increase overall performance compared to the earlier 430FX chipset, but SDRAM can operate with even fewer wait states. It also eliminates the requirement that memory must be installed in pairs, which is the case for FPM/EDO RAM on Pentium boards. That more so has to do with these being DIMMs; if you look at them one way, they are just two SIMMs neatly combined into one. EDO DIMMs also exist.

On top of all the existing superior hardware, a Tseng Labs ET4000 W32P card is being used. A very fast card for 1995, indeed, but this is the PCI variant. If you want the VLB kind for a superpowered 486, well... good luck finding one!!!

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