Tagline: Advance the Standard
Few people remember this company now. But in due time Cyrix Corporation became famous for trying to compete in the microprocessor market, with companies such as Intel и AMD. True, not very successful.
The company appeared in 1988 in Richardson, Texas, USA (Richardson, Texas, USA). Its founders were Jerry Rogers and Tom Brightman, both from Texas Instruments.
The company employed only 30 people. However, Jerry Rogers, being an exceptionally tough leader, managed to create a really strong team. He changed people like gloves, expelling those who were not to his liking and immediately hiring new ones in their place. This approach allowed such a small team, which did not have enough opportunities, to withstand much more affluent competitors for a long time.
First time Cyrix was engaged in mathematical coprocessors. The company's first processor appeared in 1992. It was an unusual creation, being installed in motherboards for 386 processors, but at the same time approaching 486 in power. A solution more suitable for upgrading legacy systems.
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| Cyrix 6x86MX (image from CPU World website) |
In general, the entire history of the company is a history of interesting and unusual developments. Cyrix always relied only on its engineers, never licensing anyone's developments. Without its own production facilities, it was completely dependent on third-party manufacturers. She mainly used Texas Instruments и IBM.
Despite all efforts, Cyrix all the time was among the catching up. And yet, in 1995, the company introduced the 6x86 processor, the capabilities of which exceeded the capabilities of processors Intel Pentium. The success was short-lived. Manufacturers of finished systems have not recognized this processor.
In 1997, it became known about the merger Cyrix и National Semiconductor. Now have Cyrix there were factory capacities, which gave the company a new chance. However, everything turned out quite differently. In 199 National Semiconductor experiences some financial difficulties and decides to sell Cyrix companies VIA Technologies. The transaction took place in 1999, after which Cyrix ceased to exist. However, the ideas developed by the company are still alive today. It's just that others use them.
