[Ilugc] CPUs (Was: Linux powers the Sub-Rs10k PC)
- From: siva.ilugc@xxxxxxxxx (Sivasankar Chander)
- Date: Wed Aug 3 17:38:01 2005
On 8/3/05, Chandrashekar Babu <lug@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
On Wed, 03 Aug 2005 12:17:15 +0530, Shiva KM <kmshiva@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
VIA Processor 1 Ghz
Hmmm.. I havent heard of this processor much - is this thesame as the
Cyrix processor of many years ago??
Yes. Now the processor comes from VIA.
The processor is *not* the same, although Via bought/licensed the IP core
of the Cyrix 6x86MX or M2 core, for some of the early Via C3 CPUs.
(The last processor built by Cyrix was an MMX Socket-7 CPU called the MII,
comparable to a Pentium 233/MMX. Clock-for-clock, this is still the highest
performance x86 CPU ever built, but it never scaled beyond 300 MHz or so,
before Cyrix was acquired by National Semiconductor.)
National Semiconductor then used the Cyrix M2 core in a line of embedded
x86 CPUs called the MediaGX and later the Geode. This line of
CPUs was later sold to AMD, which has enhanced the range with several
Athlon-core embedded x86 processors at clock speeds of over 1 GHz, consuming
a few Watts of power. These Geode NX CPUs are not pin-compatible with any
other consumer x86 CPUs, and require special motherboards to use them.
They're mostly used in embedded boxes, including Firewalls, Routers, SANs,
etc.
OTOH, the Via CPUs contain a core from Centaur Technology, which built
an excellent
low-power, small-die core family. The 1st generation of that core was a Socket-7
CPU called the Winchip, followed by the Winchip II. Both these came to market
too late to make an impact on the Socket-7 market, which was being phased
out by that time. However, the 3rd-generation Centaur core was used by
Via in a line of Socket-370 CPUs (compatible with the Celeron/PIII) called
the Cyrix III (to indicate compatibility with the PIII socket-370). Apart from
the name, the CPU has nothing in common with the Cyrix M2 cores. IMHO, the
Via Cyrix III/C3 is an excellent performer at its price point - it
retailed for $15 when
the least expensive Celerons cost about $50, and easily blew away the Celerons
on most memory-intensive benchmarks, although they were only about half as
fast on floating-point.
The latest generation of the Via/Centaur CPUs is a Socket-478 (P4-compatible)
CPU that runs at up to 2 GHz, and uses a fraction of the power of the P4. It's
the most interesting Socket-478 CPU available, in that it has a HW cryptographic
coprocessor on the die. (Eventually, the Linux kernel CryptoAPI will support HW
acceleration.)
I had an old compaq machine with a Cyrix MediaGX processorwith a rating
of 133MHz, but actually ran at 100MHz or 90MHzor something - performance
wasn't very good though...
The MediaGX was from National Semiconductor (see above), and was an
embedded x86 CPU, meant for set-top boxes, routers and the like. It was
never meant to be a desktop CPU, though that did not prevent some companies
from building low-end consumer desktops around it. These were mostly destined
for price-sensitive markets, and they were never meant to compete on
performance.
The MediaGX has nothing in common with the Via C3 CPUs - the C3 is an
excellent performer for the price. Try a C3/733 to get an idea of the capability
of the Centaur core.
Just that you can't expect to enjoy Quake3 Arena or Half Life at
high resolutions and higher fps on it.
I'd be perfectly happy to get a $15 Geforce4 MX card and use
the latest generation socket-478 Via CPU for gaming. I'd give even
odds that this will blow away an Intel CPU on an Intel integrated-
graphics motherboard like the i845/865/915 at a small fraction
of the cost.
If you want high frame-rates, invest in a good GPU instead of
an expensive CPU. An inexpensive CPU + inexpensive but
good previous-gen GPU, can easily outperform a top-end CPU +
a crappy integrated graphics combination, at a fraction of the
cost.
-Siva
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