Cyrix Announces 6x86™ Processor for High-Performance Desktop Market

Delivers Industry-Leading Performance for Windows® and Windows Applications

Richardson, Texas -- October 6, 1995 -- Cyrix Corporation (NASDAQ: CYRX) today formally unveiled its 6x86™ processor family, previously known as the M1. The 6x86 processor represents an unprecedented performance advancement in the evolution of the x86 architecture found at the heart of all IBM-compatible PCs today. Its architecture enables industry-leading performance running Windows and PC applications. The 6x86 processor family represents the first real challenge to Intel's performance leadership.

"The 6x86 processor was designed for compatibility and optimum performance running all PC software," said Jerry Rogers, president and CEO of Cyrix. "By anticipating the needs of today's as well as tomorrow's PC users, we expect the 6x86 product line to remain competitive through the 90s."

Desktop Performance Leadership

Cyrix revealed a Winstone® 95 performance rating of 217, which rivals published test results from the fastest 133 MHz Pentium® systems. Industry reports show the 150 MHz Pentium® Pro processor, formerly known as the P6, runs up to 20 percent slower than the Pentium 133 running Windows desktop software.

At the initial clock speed of 100 MHz, the 6x86 processor gives PC manufacturers the ability to build systems that compete with 133 MHz Pentium® Processor and 150 MHz Pentium Pro® systems on Windows software.

"As the benchmarks indicate, raw clock speed of a processor is no longer an absolute measure of its performance," said Steve Tobak, vice president of corporate marketing at Cyrix. "The 6x86 processor's architectural superiority is a critical factor in its performance advantage.

"The bottom line is that no processor today runs Windows software faster than the 6x86," stated Tobak.

Sixth-Generation Architecture for Today's Designs

The Cyrix 6x86 is a sixth-generation superscalar, superpipelined processor. The chip features register renaming, data dependency removal, multi-branch prediction, speculative execution and out-of-order completion capabilities. It has an 80-bit floating point unit and a 16K primary cache.

The Cyrix 6x86 processor is easy to implement in today's desktop designs. Its 296-pin grid array (PGA) package is compatible with the robust P54C socket that is widely used in today's 64-bit platforms, with minor modifications.

The 6x86 processor requires a single 3.3-volt supply and includes 5-volt tolerant I/O buffers. Extensive on-chip power management features enable "green PC" implementation.

Price and Availability

The 100 MHz Cyrix 6x86 processor is available now, priced at $450 each in quantities of 1,000.

Cyrix Corporation

Cyrix Corporation, headquartered in Richardson, Texas, is a leading supplier of high-performance processors to the personal computer industry. Founded in 1988, the Company designs, manufactures and markets innovative, x86 software-compatible processors for the desktop and mobile computer markets.

Editors' Note: Additional support from the PC industry is presented in a companion news release.