🚀 go-pugleaf

Peter Gentile wrote:
> 
> Hello Everyone!
> 
> My brother is in the market to buy a computer.   He definitely want to
> buy a Pentium or it's equivalent.  Question:
> 
> What is the difference, if any, between a Cyrix cpu and a Pentium?  Does
> Pentium have any advantage over Cyrix?
> 
> Any info or opinions would be greatly appreciated!
> 
> Thanx,
> 
> Pete

Byte Magazine did an extensive study of this some time ago.  
The conclusion I remember was that you could save some $$
buying Cyrix or AMD without any risk.  There are two points
to remember:

1. Some Cyrix models do not have an on-board numeric processor.
If your applications do not require it, you are ahead the $$ and 
the Cyrix processor runs cooler. Be sure to ask about this
to prevent disappointment. (Windows 3.x does not require a 
numeric coprocessor.)

2. The Cyrix marketing literature makes direct claims about
performance of specific cpu models versus Intel Pentium models.
Byte was able to validate all the claims as true.  However, 
a certain speed Cyrix chip does not perform the same as a certain
speed Pentium.  Confusing, not deceptive.  Just get the sales 
person to quote you the Cyrix literature for the CPU you are 
looking at, knowing that it will be accurate and not dependent
on the knowledge or credibility of the salesperson. 

I and my company use a mix of Intel and AMD CPUs without 
performance surprises on the AMD stuff.

-- 
Tim Henderson
Software Engineer
Charlottesville VA