Richardson, Texas-based Cyrix Corp launched first fruits of its alliance with IBM Corp in the shale of the Cx486DX2-V66 chip for notebook computers and the Cx486DX2-V80 for desktop systems. They combine 3V operation and power management with integrated 8Kb write-back cache, which Cyrix suggests is essential in chips clocked at 66MHz and up, improving performance 10% to 20% over 66MHz parts without the cache. It is claimed to offer a performance increase of up to 10% over the DX4-75. Cyrix has also integrated its FasMath co-processor into the Cx486DX2 family. The Cx486DX2-V80 will cost $294 for 1,000-up early next quarter, offering better value than Intel Corp’s 80486DX2-66. The 486DX2-V66 is $249 for 1,000-up.
