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New chips on the horizon

Posted by CmdrTaco on from the emulate-the-enemy dept.

Rewbob writes "Rise Technology officially released its roadmap for chips in the sub-$600 PC market and confirmed it will release a chip faster and compatible with Intel's Celeron. Check out the whole story over at news.com. "

37 comments

  1. What I think should happen.... by Ellis-D · · Score: 1

    I think that Rise and IDT should merge then buy the rest of Cyrix. With all the egineers they have I feel that aliance could come into the market with a killer product... But that's just my idea.
    "Windows 98 Second Edition works and players better than ever." -Microsoft's Home page on Win98SE.

    --
    I ate my tag line.
    -=Ellis (D)25=-
  2. Re: On Prices.. by Lord+Bitman · · Score: 1


    Drop Prices? Are you kidding?
    You want these people to make less than 400$ profit from each chip sold?
    How will they feed their families??


    I really hope they Do drop prices. Everything is overpriced these days.
    People "Getting Away" with raising their prices, set the example for other companies to do the same, Therefor creating the same effect as a Monopoly- and they're not allowed for a good reason.

    --
    -- 'The' Lord and Master Bitman On High, Master Of All
  3. sniff sniff by RoLlEr_CoAsTeR · · Score: 2

    According to those marvelous little benchmark graphs, my Cyrix MMX 233 is looking pretty shoddy.... I wonder, though, how much of a noticeable difference there is in performance. Checking out the Cyrix page http://www.cyrix.com and looking at a couple of the performance tests show the Cyrix MII as performing better than a Celeron, which, if Rise is supposed to be [soon] competing with, confuses me.... Of course, they might have been different chips, I couldn't actually tell, and they were different tests, as well.... Anybody have a better fix on things? (Perhaps I should chunk the Cyrix, eh?)

    --

    Insert mind here.
    1. Re:sniff sniff by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      >Checking out the Cyrix page http://www.cyrix.com >and looking at a couple of the performance tests >show the Cyrix MII as performing better than a >Celeron

      I hate to break it to you, but Cyrix makes the shoddiest chips on the market, bar none. I don't think even IDT is worse. Their chips are 1) SLOW, 2) Highly unstable. Last I heard, the only major manufacturer using them is Packard Bell (how fitting). There is NO WAY a cyrix chip will beat a Celeron 300a (the Celeron with cache) or better, or even a properly (read "over" -- Celerons are the most overclockable chips on the planet) clocked Celeron 300 without cache. Don't believe all you hear from a company's own website. Benchmarks can be weaseled to say anything anyone wants. Personally, I check Tom's Hardware Guide before making any hardware decisions like that.

    2. Re:sniff sniff by Rendus · · Score: 0

      Personally, I've built around 20 machines based on Cyrix CPUs, and have only had one problem with one, which I caused.

      Running a 233MHz (Ok, 187MHz clock) processor without a heatsink or fan for half an hour would probably damage ANY brand.

      My only complaint with Cyrixes so far is the slow FPU (It's slower than my P200 by a good margin). Outside of games, it's quite a nice processor, especially when you consider you're getting 300MHz performance for $30...

  4. Re:Rise by Mr.+Shadow · · Score: 1

    Consider it done....I'm really looking forward to this show. ALL it is, is HARDWARE!

  5. Intel's Future Competitor by Contramac · · Score: 1

    I'm putting my money down that Intel will drop their prices on their processors just so that the new company can't sell theirs because Intel can stand to loose money by edgeing out a competitor, they will, including one that will use the same processor interface and will match their speed.

    1. Re:Intel's Future Competitor by Contramac · · Score: 1

      I'm just saying they could if they wanted, of course a company is going to wait out the other one to see if they drop out.

    2. Re:Intel's Future Competitor by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      No way man..... Intel still thinks they are the best...they won't cut their prices for a little
      wannabe company...if they are going to cut their
      prices, they are going to do it because of
      amd..

    3. Re:Intel's Future Competitor by Melbert · · Score: 1

      (off topic, but in context with the point)
      Why is Amazon.com still in business, then?

    4. Re:Intel's Future Competitor by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      NOT if you do not go under your own cost. Thus they would simply be cutting cost in the face of new competition.. nouf economics

      Truth is that there are a lot of these small companies that could claim to beat Intel. Heck, they might just be.... but do they have cool dancers in funky colors, and nice commercials :)

      Think how much faster the internet would be if we all had P!!! processors :)

      All in all, i just hope K7 gives us what we need :)

    5. Re:Intel's Future Competitor by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      Cutting prices to edge out a competitor is illegal in the united states by law.

    6. Re:Intel's Future Competitor by zagmar · · Score: 1

      Because Amazon doesn't sell below cost. They cut out the cost of maintaining a huge physical presence, and so can sell for peanuts. However, they lose money because they advertise and work at building their client base.

    7. Re:Intel's Future Competitor by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      AMD was a "little wannabe company" once. So was Intel.

    8. Re:Intel's Future Competitor by Contramac · · Score: 1

      They made the Celeron's, that more than likely hurt competitors and if they can make them cheaper and have less overhead costs, then it's fine if they sell cheaper because they can.

  6. Compatible by Kludge · · Score: 2

    Can you run them in SMP, like Celerys?
    I'm guessing probably not...

    1. Re:Compatible by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The MP6 is a P5, not a P6 (like the Celeron), but it also does not support SMP in any fashion.

  7. If the Cyrix 6x86 is anything to go by... by John+Allsup · · Score: 2

    I had a cyrix once (didn't last long, went back
    under warranty, and I got it refunded and bought
    a pentium).

    When the 6x86 was brought out, Cyrix published
    benchmarks of 'floating-point applications'. They
    claimed that raw benchmarks were not truly
    representative, and so used non-fp-intensive,
    integer-intensive applications instead (so that
    the Cyrix P166+ came to about 1% ahead of an
    iP150). Running quake was a joke (most of the
    speed increase over my old 486/66 was due to
    the PCI graphics card (PCI Grafixstar 600 as
    opposed to an ISA Cirrus 5422). An iP90
    happily outpaced it at FP intensive applications.

    A frient bought a MII-300 (@233Mhz), and a
    similar story resulted (it getting slaughtered
    by a K6-233 with a slower graphics card).

    In short, NEVER buy a Cyrix.

    --
    John_Chalisque
    1. Re:If the Cyrix 6x86 is anything to go by... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      well.. _I_ use a Cyrix... it was cheap. _And_ I dont play 3D games much (I have the reflexes of an aging elephant.)

    2. Re:If the Cyrix 6x86 is anything to go by... by John+Campbell · · Score: 3

      If your machine isn't used primarily for playing games, the Cyrix is a pretty good deal. In integer-intensive operations like, say, compiling the Linux kernel, it'll whip a Pentium's butt at the same clock speed. And clock speed isn't a particularly good rule against which to compare processors. If you're comparing a 233MHz 6x86 against a 233MHz K6, it's good to remember that the Cyrix costs half as much... and if you want to throw a 233MHz Intel into the mix, the Cyrix's price advantage is even more obvious...

      Basically, if you're concerned about maximum possible performance, get an Intel (or get an Alpha or something if you don't care about x86 compatibility). If you want the best price/performance ratio, there's AMD. And if you want acceptable performance at absolute dirt cheap prices, get a Cyrix.

    3. Re:If the Cyrix 6x86 is anything to go by... by mester · · Score: 1

      >A frient bought a MII-300 (@233Mhz), and a
      >similar story resulted (it getting slaughtered
      >by a K6-233 with a slower graphics card).

      and the K6 is a terrible FPU performer at that.

      --
      *y2k -Azathoths minions had it coming*
  8. motherboard by gavinhall · · Score: 1

    Posted by dadieo:

    did i read it right that they are going to attach some directly to the bourd with no socket or slot making it impossible to upgrade?????????

    1. Re:motherboard by gavinhall · · Score: 2

      Posted by dadieo:

      Optimized for Low System Cost
      By specifically designing the mP6 microprocessors with low-power consumption and superior architectural features, Rise is able to reduce the overall cost to OEM's and systems integrators by allowing for the reduction of hardware components in a system. The triple MMX(TM) allows the mP6 processor to reduce the cost of the system by eliminating expensive hardware components like DVD decoders and modem chipsets and implementing those functions in software. In addition, the BGA packaging allows OEM's to mount the mP6 processor directly on a motherboard reducing system costs even further. The BGA packaging is possible due to extremely low power consumption of the mP6 processor.



  9. Re:Another Cyrix by Didel · · Score: 1

    But, the question is, are you really selling something for free, or giving it away?

  10. Re:But are they overclockable? by Karth · · Score: 1

    Eh, paint me stupid. I looked but couldn't find em.

  11. Re:Another Cyrix by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    How about the StrongArm produced by Intel?

  12. Rise by Mr.+Shadow · · Score: 2

    I'll be checking them out at Computex in Taipei on Monday. I'll send in report if anybody is interested. (Gee, maybe they'll be giving out samples!)

    1. Re:Rise by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      Could you post your findings on a web site or something? I am really interested to see how these compete with Celery's and AMD's K6 lines. www.suredeals.com have a system for $299 with a K6-2 350. Not bad for a cheap machine/Linux/BSD server. I went to Rise's site and they don't mention running linux/BSD on it just NT/OS2/Banyan server OS's. How cheap can Rise go and still make money? Intel can beat most chip makers because of Celery's are cheaper to make and they can just lower that price to almost zero if they wanted because they make so much off of the Xeon's and PIII and later the IA32 and IA64's. Thanks.

    2. Re:Rise by Thag · · Score: 1

      I am interested, actually. I'm specifically wondering if the Rise chip will overclock as well as a Celeron. If not, they're in trouble.

      Hope to hear from you!

      Jon Acheson

      --
      All opinions expressed herein are my own, and not those of my employers, who are appalled.
  13. Re:But are they overclockable? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    The MP6 is a 100MHZ FSB part with a 2x clock multiplier. It's a Pentium-compatible part.

    They have datasheets on their website; it's easy to just download them and read.

    One nice thing; no heatsink required.

  14. Diffrent styles.. by Ellis-D · · Score: 0

    I saw something a couple of days ago about them going to use socket 7/super 7 and slot 1.
    "Windows 98 Second Edition works and players better than ever." -Microsoft's Home page on Win98SE.

    --
    I ate my tag line.
    -=Ellis (D)25=-
  15. Rise MP6 and FreeBSD by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    The MP6 is not currently compatible with FreeBSD.

    FreeBSD Test Labs have a couple of units kindly supplied by Rise; support is expected shortly.

  16. Re:Another Cyrix by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Since he was talking about 64 bit processors:

    ARMs are not 64 bit. Believe me, I have one...
    (err three: ARM2, ARM610, StrongARM110).

  17. Another Cyrix by heroine · · Score: 2

    Anyone can build a chip with no floating point unit and sell it for free. That's not really reducing the price of anything. What we need is a commodity 64 bit processor.

  18. But are they overclockable? by Karth · · Score: 1

    Hm, I wonder if these are gonna be more of those "It's designed for a 66mhz bus, but it's running at 100". Are there any product comparisons out yet?

  19. Rise trying to trick us? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Judging from various articles about Rise on news.com, it smells like they're planning to use the old "pentium rating" system, claiming they're chips are equivalent to a "blah MHz Pentium" to make their chips look fast when they're actually slower than any of their competitors.

  20. Foreign markets being more lucrative ? by Wisp · · Score: 3

    In the long run if they focus on selling a Celeron clone for less to overseas markets, they could end up having a large chunk of worldwide processor processor sales.

    It would (somewhat loosely) parallel how readily Linux has been adopted by countries like Mexico and China as a good product for less.