Cyrix Exit Opens Doors For MPU Rivals

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May 26, 1999 (5:20 PM EDT)

By Mark Hachman,

Microprocessor competitors Rise Technology and Advanced Micro Devices are marking their respective territories in the notebook-PC market, but may wind up fighting over scraps left by the exit of National Semiconductor's Cyrix subsidiary.

AMD has adapted its K6-III desktop microprocessor for the portable space and is readying a 380-MHz chip-the industry's fastest mobile device. Rise, meanwhile, is betting that a migration to 0.18-micron line widths will wring enough cost and power from its mP6, mP6 II, and upcoming Tiger processors to secure its place in the market.

And at the same time, both companies are eyeing themarket share once held by National's MediaGX and MII chips, processors that captured design wins in the cheapest desktop and notebook PCs. Three weeks ago, National left the discrete PC-processor business in favor of integrated products for information appliances.

National's PC-processor share totaled only 1.7 million units, or 5.4 percent of the market during the first quarter, according to Mercury Research, in Scottsdale, Ariz. Nevertheless, the void left by its departure has its rivals jostling for position.

"We think Cyrix and National were targeting a viable business," said Joe Salvadore, senior product marketing manager at Rise. "The trick is that you need a business model that allows you to capture it."

The challenge for Santa Clara, Calif.-based Rise will be to move its microprocessors to a 0.18-micron technology and lower manufacturing costs by shrinking the die and squeezing more devices onto each wafer.

Taking place at Rise's foundry-believed by industry sources to be United Microelectronics Corp. (UMC) -- the shrink also will increase the chips' clock speed and lower power consumption. While the process shrink will reduce manufacturing costs, Rise said it plans to lower its bill of materials further by cutting the costs of peripheral components. For example, the company will begin using BGA packages that can be soldered to a motherboard.

With its small die size and clock speeds reaching 466 MHz by early 2000, the mP6 will be sold to desktop- and notebook-PC OEMs. Its successor, the mP6 II, will include 256 kilobytes of on-chip cache and is primarily targeted at notebook PCs. The part will begin production in the fourth quarter.

But the culmination of Rise's desktop strategy will be Tiger, the mP6 derivative that will fit into the same Socket 370 package used by Intel's low-end Celeron processor. By selling its chips at even lower bargain-basement prices, Rise hopes to steal whatever market Intel passes over.

By the end of the year, notebook-PC OEMs may be forced to decide between clock speed and power consumption, as the development paths pursued by Rise and AMD begin to diverge. The mP6 II, for example, has a typical power consumption of 4.5 W at 300 MHz-about a third that of AMD's newest mobile processor, the AMD-K6-III-P, which eats up 12 W typical.

"For significantly higher performance ... that's the price you're going to have to pay," said Dean McCarron, an analyst with Mercury Research.

Indeed, AMD, in Sunnyvale, Calif., is fielding 350-, 366-, and 380-MHz versions of its new K6-III-P chip. The $349 380-MHz chip is the fastest notebook-PC microprocessor available today, although Intel plans to release 400-MHz mobile parts on June 13, according to its customers.

"Other vendors out there have struggled," said Martin Booth, product manager for AMD. "Even in entry-level parts, the big problem has been clock speed."