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AMD Buys Pre-VIA Cyrix Media-GX Division

Posted by timothy on from the the-chips-that-started-out-down dept.

An anonymous reader writes "A long time ago, in what feels like a different universe, Cyrix created the first sub-$1000 PC based on a 2 chip solution called the Media-GX. Soon after National Semiconductor bought Cyrix, keeping the Media-GX team and selling the 686MX team to VIA. In the meantime, the Media-GX team have created the a series of single chip PCs, and a totally new CPU, the GX2. Now National Semiconductor is selling the division to AMD, which should give it a higher profile and better fab technology again." Reader jlouderb reminds us of National Semiconductor's Device Girls promotion, "a lame take-off on the Spice Girls," and points to coverage at eWeek of the purchase.

5 of 157 comments (clear)

  1. Old school by mao+che+minh · · Score: 5, Informative
    Speaking of old CPUs: Memory lane of old CPUs

    It even has a picture of the Media-GX in there.

  2. Possible purpose by crow · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Perhaps what AMD wants is not their CPU, but the stuff that they've integrated in with it to create a single-chip PC. In a year or so, we might see a single-chip system based on one of the AMD processors.

    1. Re:Possible purpose by RevRigel · · Score: 5, Interesting

      You can already get single chip systems based on their IA chips if you're doing embedded development: Kontron's X-Board, which just came out. We're using a Kontron PC/104 board with a standalone Geode on it right now and it's the most rock solid board I've ever used. The X-board is going to make our next revision incredibly small, low power, and inexpensive.

      Although, I have to wonder what this will do the ZFMicrosystems lawsuit against National. Basically, ZFMicro was started by the original founder of Ampro, which originated the popular PC/104 standard, and integrated a 586 processor core with a bunch of peripherals into the ZFx86, a neat little cheap (I have an MZ104 from Tri-m Systems that uses it. Squeezes a slackware distro into a 6.8MB file on a flash chip). Unfortunately, ZFMicro used National as their foundry and for some of their last-line development. So National got access to schematics and layout info for the chip, instead of just masks. National then proceeded to steal it and integrate the Geode proc they bought from Cyrix with some on-chip peripherals in the same way, and then put ZFMicro out of business by refusing to ship any more ZFx86s.

    2. Re:Possible purpose by swordboy · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Perhaps what AMD wants is not their CPU, but the stuff that they've integrated in with it to create a single-chip PC.

      Well... that is the only logical conclusion. ARM has taken the portable world because X86 compatibility isn't important there. It will be some time before AMD can afford to put an entire Athlon system on a chip but it will eventually happen. Now they just need to buy a graphics chip designer like AMD or nVidia.

      Can you imagine the bandwidth between CPU and video? A 2048-bit bus between video and CPU wouldn't be a problem if you put it all on the same chip, not to mention the reduction in latentcy with the memory interface.

      Maybe the nVidia/AMD relationship ala NForce is a sign of what is to come?

      --

      Life is the leading cause of death in America.
  3. AMD Using Geode to Lower Opteron/Athlon64 Power by reporter · · Score: 5, Insightful
    AMD is buying the 80x86 division of National Semiconductor (NSM) in order to obtain the embedded 80x86 technology and employee talent for lowering the power consumption of Opteron and Athlon64. The AMD 80x86 processors have generally run hotter than Intel 80x86 processors. Since AMD is in a brutal competition with Intel for marketshare, AMD must quickly improve its competitive position.

    AMD will not use the 80x86 division of NSM to create a 80x86 embedded processor. 80x86 chips fare poorly in the embedded market, which is dominated by ARM.