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[Synopsis]
In this video, I emulate the Cyrix III 700 MHz cpu on 86Box with a Intel I7-13700KF processor. I use two 3dfx Voodoo 2 8 MB 3d accelerators with 128 MB of RAM running Windows 98 SE. I run a number of tests using a number of games.
PCEM runs a little faster than 86Box from the previous tests that I did. I don't know much about the Cyrix III family of processors, because I never owned one back in the day. Cyrix began as a company that produced math co-processors for Intel's CPUs in 1988. They produced a lot of products that would help you upgrade processors on computers. In the 1990s, Cyrix produced budget CPUs, and AMD was also less expensive compared to Intel processors. Both the Cyrix and AMD processors were lacking when it came to FPU(Float Point Unit) computations.
Float point means numbers with decimals, and the other kind of number is called integer numbers. Integer numbers are numbers without decimals, and integer numbers are much easier for a processor to compute than numbers with decimals. FPU made 3d applications perform much better. Cyrix CPUs had many issues, like processors overheating. The instruction sets for Cyrix CPUs weren't as good as Intel's or AMD's instruction sets. Cyrix CPUs lacked CPU cache memory which made them slower than AMD or Intel processors. Having cache memory on the CPU allows the CPU to execute more instructions per cycle, so having the ability to process more data. CPU cache is expensive, and Cyrix's main selling point was its low price. As a result, performance wasn't as good. As for the heat issue could have resulted from computer builders not putting in adequate cooling, like adding heat sink fans, or having a adequate air flow in the case. Never the less, Cyrix CPUs did run hotter, and they had to tendency to overheat, because they were clocked at higher frequencies.
Cyrix went out of business, because of their inability to produce high performance processors. It was behind AMD and Intel; however, Cyrix processors were inexpensive. Never the less, when it came to 3d games or 3d applications, it came last. As result, Cyrix went bankrupt in November 11, 1997. On June 30, 1999, VIA which is a Taiwanese semiconductor company acquires Cyrix. VIA technologies is a Taiwanese semiconductor company that produces CPUs, chipsets for motherboards + other devices, and memory modules. They did produce their own VIA X86 CPUs but they weren't successful. This is why you don't see VIA cpus, but they do have a license to produce X86 processors which they acquired from Cyrix after they bought them out. VIA and Shanghai 兆芯(Zhaoxin) Semiconductor Co., Ltd had a partnership to produce a X86 CPU in 2013. This processor is called the 兆芯(Zhaoxin) family of X86 processors. Since VIA has a X86 license, this allows China to produce X86 processors under the 兆芯 brand.
兆芯 had been producing X86 processors from 2014 with the ZX-A VIA Isaiah processor (40 nm) up to the ZX-F / KX-7000 Shijidadao processor (7 nm) in 2023. Yes, China has a X86 license to produce X86 processors. The only other two companies that produce X86 processors are AMD and Intel.
Back in the 1990s, we had a lot more choices when it came to CPUs, graphics cards, and other computer peripherals. Today, we have less choices compared to the 1990s. For GPUs, it is Nvidia or AMD, and for X86/X64 processors it is Intel, AMD, or Zhaoxin. Zhaoxin is only available in mainland China. Those three are the only companies that produce desktop X86 processors in this world. We have new types of CPUs, like RISC processors which is dominated by ARM. In the 1990s, you had many more companies producing graphics cards, like Hercules, Trident, S3 Virge, Matrox, Rendition, 3dfx, ATi, Paradise Systems, Real3d, BitBoys, Advanced Logic Research, OPTi, and many more.
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[System Specs]
♦ Processor/CPU: Intel I7-13700KF
♦ GPU: Nvidia Geforce RTX 3060 12 GB
♦ Storage: Fanxiang S500 Pro 1 TB M.2 NVMe SSD
♦ O.S.: Windows 11 Home
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[Machine Settings]
♣ Processor/CPU: Cyrix III 700 MHz
♠ RAM: 128 MB
♠ CPU: S3 Virge + Two 3dfx Voodoo II 8 MB 3d Accelerators
♠ Storage: 4 GB HDD IDE + 8 GB HDD IDE
♠ Optical: CD-ROM 8 X
♠ O.S.: Windows 98 SE
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[Programs]
○ Virua Cop 2 (1998)
○ Panzer Commander (1998)
○ Wing Commander Prophecy Special Ops (1997)
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[Video Annotations]
♦ Intro and Settings - [ 0:01 to 2:30 ]
♦ Virtua Cop 2: [ 2:44 to 5:15 ]
♦ Panzer Commander [ 5:56 to 8:36 ]
♦ Wing Commander Prophecy Spec Ops [ 12:13 to 16:54 ]
♦ Conclusion [ 20:50 to End ]
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