Cyrix

Not to be confused with Citrix.
Cyrix Corporation
Company typePublic company
NASDAQ: CYRX
IndustrySemiconductors
Founded1988; 36 years ago (1988)
Founder
  • Jerry Rogers
  • Tom Brightman[1]
DefunctNovember 11, 1997; 27 years ago (1997-11-11)
FateMerged and dissolved
SuccessorSold to National Semiconductor (later to VIA Technologies); assets sold to Advanced Micro Devices
HeadquartersRichardson, TX, USA
Products
Number of employees
c. 300

Cyrix Corporation was a microprocessor developer that was founded in 1988 in Richardson, Texas, as a specialist supplier of floating point units for 286 and 386 microprocessors. The company was founded by Tom Brightman and Jerry Rogers.

In 1992, Cyrix introduced its own i386 compatible processors, the 486SLC and 486DLC.[2] These had higher performance than the Intel parts, but a lower price.[3][4] They were primarily marketed to users looking to upgrade existing machines. Their release sparked a lengthy series of lawsuits with Intel while their foundry partner IBM was releasing the same designs under their own branding.

The combination of these events led Cyrix to begin losing money, and the company merged with National Semiconductor on 11 November 1997.[5][6] National released Cyrix's latest designs under the MediaGX name and then an updated version as Geode in 1999. National sold the line to AMD in August 2003 where it was known as Geode. The line was discontinued in 2019.[7]

  1. ^ "Manufacturer articles (Cyrix)". www.Coprocessor.info. Archived from the original on June 14, 2011. Retrieved 2008-09-10.
  2. ^ "Competition benefits consumers, Advancing technology produces good buy on computer chips". Argus-Leader. 16 April 1993. p. 36. Retrieved 21 February 2022.
  3. ^ "Cyrix-Intel market fight heats up with new chip". The Desert Sun. 31 March 1992. p. 36. Retrieved 21 February 2022.
  4. ^ "Cyrix unveils desktop chip". Victoria Advocate. 6 June 1992. p. 15. Retrieved 21 February 2022.
  5. ^ Takahashi, Dean (23 November 1997). "Computer on a chip, National Semiconductor visionary CEO forsees $500 PC". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. p. 66. Retrieved 21 February 2022.
  6. ^ "National Semiconductor loss less than expected". Fort Worth Star-Telegram. 11 December 1998. p. 56. Retrieved 21 February 2022.
  7. ^ Singer, Graham (15 May 2020). "History of the Microprocessor and the Personal Computer, Part 4".