Via's Cyrix III processor is now out and about, and it'll be aimed at sub-$500 PCs.

The Cyrix III , unveiled at CeBit, starts at speeds of 733MHz and will cost $54 per unit for orders of 1000.

Using 0.15 micron technology, Via can produce two chips for every one Intel and AMD knock out from the same piece of silicon. This cuts production costs and Via will be undercutting the Celeron and Duron by a fifth.

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing will make the Cyrix III.

Via claims the new processor will generate less heat, allowing PC manufacturers to remove cooling fans in PCs and laptops. Removing a fan will thus extend battery life for a laptop and make smaller, slimmer models possible.

Any advantages the Cyrix III has will have to be quickly milked however. Both Intel and AMD should shift to 0.13 micron technology this year.

From the press release

"The Via Cyrix III integrates a total of 192KB full-speed cache on the world's smallest x86 processor die measuring only 52mm squared."

"To optimize performance, the processor integrates 128KB full speed Level 1 and 64KB full speed Level 2 Cache, and also features support for a high-speed 133MHz Front Side Bus and the 3DNow! and MMX multimedia instruction sets." ®