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Via-Cyrix runs into PR problem

666MHz, deal with Intel, what next?

Updated Sources close to the manufacturers of the Cyrix-branded Centaur microprocessor said today that technical difficulties are preventing Via from producing 666MHz versions of the chip.

Via announced the Cyrix III chip in Taipei last month, in a blaze of publicity.

Joshua died officially inside Via last week, partly because semiconductor engineers could only make it clock at 400MHz, we understand.

One source close to the company's plans alleged today: "Via has been advertising 667MHz versions of this single pipe machine, but don't let that fool you. They are still PR rating the silicon."

Cyrix was notorious for using a PR rating to measure microprocessor performance, but at the Computex show in Taipei last month, the firm finally threw up its hands and decided to abandon the practice.

Late last night, Via and Intel decided to abandon all but one legal action against each other.

However, Richard Brown, marketing director of Via, denied that the PR rating was still in use for the fledgling CPU. "This is a megahertz part, it is not PR rated," he said.

Currently, Via is producing parts at speeds of 500MHz, 533MHz and 600MHz, he added.

When Via introduced the Cyrix III, the firm said that it would bring out a 667MHz CPU. That now looks very unlikely, a mole at Cyrix said. ®

See Also

Via, Intel kiss and make up
Cyrix III: P6 clone by name but not by nature

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