Monday, January 8, 2001		On Hardware

Cyrix M-III – reasonable yet strong

The IT revolution is fast catching up in India with everybody howsoever remotely connected with information technology wanting to buy a PC. But for a common man it is yet really not easy to afford a computer. There is some good news for those who thought a PC was really out of their budget with Cyrix M-III processor from Via technologies now available for budget range of PCs. Cyrix makes the cheapest processors in the world.

The predecessor of the Cyrix M-III processors like M-II processor had their own presence in the market, despite the fact that most of the home PC market is dominated by Intel and AMD, though PC manufacturers like IBM have a range of computers based on Cyrix processors. Cyrix is a good hardware option, which should be considered while deciding the components for your PC. After all what are the features which makes Cyrix a possible choice in the world of Pentium 4, Athlon, Pentium –III, Duron, Celeron etc?

The Via Cyrix M-III processor is synonymous to good performance at a low price. It is designed for both business and home PCs and can run all applications that are capable of running on either a Pentium or AMD and this includes Web browsing, computer games, normal computer based application software including Microsoft Office etc.

The clock speed of the M-III processors matches that of other recent models of the processors available from other manufacturers. Presently Cyrix M–III processors are available in the clock speed of 500MHz, 533MHz, 550MHz, and 600MHz. However processors with higher clock speed are also lined up for release later this year. One of the main feature of these processor is that they are Socket 370 compatible processor with a range of enhanced performance features, like a full-speed 128KB L1 cache, 100/133MHz Front Side Bus support, and 3DNow!™ and MMX™ Technology.

Besides a front side bus of 133 MHz processor, they also have the memory speed of 133 MHz, which is more than the 100 MHz memory speed of Pentium-III and Pentium –III Xenon. However on this feature it compares with Pentium – III EB. Technically the performance of this processor is comparable with Pentium –III, but normally people place it in comparison with Intel Celeron. However, this comparison is not correct. Cyrix M-III has 128-KB full speed L1 cache, whereas this is not the case in Celeron processor. However, this compares well with the Pentium –III processors.

The Cyrix M-III processor is built using a state of the art .18 micron process, to ensure the highest levels of reliability and performance. Whereas the Celeron is built on a 0.25 micron process. However, again on this count also it is comparable with the Intel Pentium – III processors, which are also being built on 0.18-micron technology, which happens to be the latest in the processors. Moreover the Cyrix M III processors also scores on the bus speed of 133 MHz, which in comparison to the 66 MHz bus speed of Celeron is just double. In terms of bus speed it is even more than the comparable Pentium –III processors.

This processor has an efficient design and small die size of only 75mm2 and thus has the exceptional power management capabilities, which consumes an average of only 10 watts when in full operation mode. This making it ideal for fanless, noise-free, always-on Information PC, notebook, and Information Appliance designs.

However, the best feature of the Cyrix M-III processor is its compatibility with motherboards. The Cyrix M-III processors can be mounted on Intel 810E copper mine motherboard with 133 MHz FSB. These motherboards support higher end Pentium –III EB processors, thus Cyrix M-III processors give you excellent option for future up gradation. Since the price difference between a Cyrix M-III processor and Pentium – III EB processor is huge, you can derive an excellent performance even at lower price, with Cyrix M-III processor and yet you can retain the option of upgrading your system to 1 GHz later. Presently the Cyrix 533 MHz processor with 133 MHz FSB costs nearly Rs.2500, where as the price of similar processor in Pentium range of processors is above Rs.8000. Moreover the price range of a standard motherboard like Tiga technologies with 133 FSB and USB support costs around Rs.4500 to 5000. Thus having Cyrix M-III as your processor on a copper mine motherboard makes good sense. Technically, it supports a wide range of Socket 370 chipsets and motherboards.

Yet another feature of the Cyrix M-III is the "unlocked multiplier", which means you can increase the CPU clock rate without increasing the FSB speed. Thus this makes the chip a good choice even for the purpose of overclocking and thus deriving even better performance at a very economical price. However in case of overclocking, the floating point performance of M-III may create some problems.

However, this processor has its down side too. The Cyrix M-III processors do not have a L2 cache. In fact L2 cache is very important and the absence of L2 cache has a considerable negative impact on the overall scores. However for home based computers, the Cyrix M-III has enough power packed into it, though it may not offer you peak performance for advanced applications and software development etc. Thus, for home based and small office computers Cyrix M-III is a winner. Moreover, if you look at this processor from the viewpoint of price to performance ratio, then you will find that this processor offers good value for its price.

— VV