CYRIX

Cyrix Corp. had a problem when its 6 86 processor did poorly with respect to Windows NT 4.0. They confirmed that the 6 86 had operated about 25% slower than was expected in the test of Windows NT 4.0 software. However, the problem has been solved for devices that have been produced recently.

The Cyrix 6 86 processor had established instability in the system. The result was a decision to move the L1 cache on the Cyrix chip from a write-back mode to a write-through mode, resulting in the lower performance. Cyrix is now producing a new release of the 6 86 that eliminates the instability.

While most companies are putting their processors into PCs, the general trend is that Windows NT is being used on a growing scale. Windows NT is seeing some significant increase in usage in many organizations as the network operating system of choice. Cyrix has worked to correct a version of its 6 86 in order to successfully run Windows NT and in the process will avoid any serious problems that could be detrimental to customers or the product itself.

Organizations who purchase Windows NT systems will tend to purchase at the higher end of the performance scale. It is important to note that a 25% performance decrease in essence takes Cyrix from a Pentium 200 performance level to less than that a Pentium 133 MHz. The end result is that this is not something people buying NT systems are going to choose.

Cyrix's Windows NT 4.0 problem is...