Cyrix Mulls 370-Pin Socket Chip

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March 25, 1999 (12:00 AM EST)

As Intel sharpens its low-end offering, centering around the proprietary 370-pin socket, Cyrix also is evaluating that design for its forthcoming processors, industry sources said.

Intel conceived the 370-pin socket, which accepts processors directly to the motherboard rather than requiring a more costly Slot 1 module to help PC OEMs reduce system costs. Intel prices its Plastic Pin Grid Array 370-pin format about $10 less than the Single Edge Processor Package (Slot 1) in low quantities, and 370-pin motherboards also are less costly than their Slot 1 cousins.

Executives familiar with the plans of microprocessor makers said Cyrix, a division of National Semiconductor, could transition to the 370-pin socket at the end of the year because it offers a higher performance solution than the current Super Socket 7 design and distinguishes the company's processors from competitor Advanced Micro Devices.

A National spokesman said no such architectural announcements have been released to the public. But he said that National entered into a "broad cross-licensing agreement" with Intel.

"We have the right to do it and we have the technological ability to do it," he said about supporting the 370-pin socket. "There are no legal factors stopping us."

He added that whether Cyrix moves to the 370-pin socket will depend on the life span of the existing Super Socket 7 motherboard design, currently used for AMD's K6 line and the Cyrix MII and MediaGX CPUs.

A Cyrix spokeswoman also said the company will ship this month the fastest MII processor to date, a performance rated 366-MHz CPU. The spokeswoman said Cyrix intends to ship a PR 400-MHz part this year and the next-generation CPU, now called Gobi, is on schedule to ship in the third quarter.

At least one PC OEM said systems based on the MII CPU are still selling well, driven by cut-throat prices, in some cases as low as $30 each. PC Data, in Reston, Va., said Cyrix's share of sub-$1000 sales at retail was about 10 percent last month.

Industry watchers have said that Cyrix's ability to survive in the increasing competitive retail market now dominated by AMD and Intel, will be its pricing and feature set moving forward. Supporting the 370-pin socket could position the company for a higher performing offering as it begins to integrate L2 cache into the CPU, said Keith Diefendorff, editor in chief of the chip-industry newsletter, The Microprocessor Report. Diefendorff said the Super Socket 7 motherboard is not as well-suited for the new cache designs, among other limitations.

"I don't see the Super Socket 7 as a long-term thing," he said. "Its lifetime is nearly at an end in terms of bandwidth and technology."

AMD already is making plans to transition to a new motherboard design and system bus for the K7 processor, scheduled to ship in the first half.

Sources said another motivator for Cyrix to move toward the 370-pin socket is Intel's upcoming 810 chip set, code-named Whitney. The 810 integrates high-quality video capabilities and also supports software-based audio and modem technologies, sources briefed by Intel said.

One PC executive who has seen the 810 called it "a very high-performance" implementation aimed at the low-end. He said if future Cyrix processors support Intel's 370-pin design, PC makers can use the CPUs together with the 810 chip set as an appealing solution for the ultra-low-cost market.

According to a road map obtained by Computer Retail Week, Intel also has plans to increase the 810's system bus support to 133 MHz by the end of the year. Existing chip sets for Celeron CPUs currently support 66 MHz, while chip sets for the AMD K6-2 processor support 100 MHz.

One retailer said privately that Intel is indicating a bus-speed increase could come as soon as this summer if competition with AMD remains dicey.