Cyrix C!!!: Does it work in dual form?

MadRat

Lifer
Oct 14, 1999
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I'd think some of those older dual S370 (pre-FCPGA) boards would love to hit 1gHz for cheap. Some of them, like Abit's BP6, is limited to older Celeron S370 chips. If that board could be run with dual 800mHz C!!!'s then I'd think VIA would easily be able to muster up some Western customers. (If the C4 works in the same board you can imagine an even better dual 1gHz.) Sure its a niche market, but its also a profitable niche market. ;)

I'm curious, would it even work?
 

Rand

Lifer
Oct 11, 1999
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Yes the Cyrix 3 does work in in SMP configuartions of up to 2 processors.
The BIOS needs to have specific support for dual processor Cyrix 3's however, and many dual processor motherboards will only run a single Cyrix 3.
 

Remedy

Diamond Member
Dec 1, 1999
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I don't think they have any intentions on running them in dual. But i have also heard they will run in smp off there own ap133a boards, thing is. Who would want to? I'd probably be more content on getting dual Durons up before even waisting my time with the cyrix's, especially if the FPU/Alu marks around the lowest clocked durons. But that is just me.
 

MadRat

Lifer
Oct 14, 1999
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If I'm running dual processors then FPU is one of the last things I'm worried about. I've got plenty of tasks that are not dependent on FPU power around here. ;)
 

Budman

Lifer
Oct 9, 1999
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I wonder if those would work on an old Abit BP6.

Many people are still running those & it would be a cheap upgrade.
 

MadRat

Lifer
Oct 14, 1999
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I'm hoping to find a BP6 one of these days that is in my comfort zone pricewise. I'd think by then it will be almost free. ;)
 

rockhard

Golden Member
Nov 7, 1999
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Im sure i read on ViaHardware when they did the preview for the Samuel 2 that Via had publicly stated that it WAS NOT POSSIBLE as the CPU did not support SMP :(
Be great if someone could prove otherwise as it would be great to run SMP with a couple Samuel2's with no need for fans on the heatsinks - me thinking totally silent SMP rig :D
 

rockhard

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Nov 7, 1999
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<< Cyrix III does not work in SMP A employee of VIA/Cyrix has confirmed that the Cyrix III will not work in SMP. It is technically not possible for them to work in SMP. There have recently been a few rumors about Cyrix III and SMP due to pictures taken at Cebit showing so.

The pictures are no doubt real, but the setup was more then likely caused by human error.

The current line of VIA processors will not work in SMP because of lack of an APIC, however it is still possible the upcoming C5X core may.
>>



Heh, may as well correct myself before someone else does :D

Samuel 1 does not support SMP but as for Samuel 2?

A couple Samuel 2's in a ECS D6VAA would be cheap as hell. SMP for mom and pop :D
 

zephyrprime

Diamond Member
Feb 18, 2001
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Remember, the Cyrix III and the C3 are different processors. (related of course). If you look at the benches, the C3 delivers much more performance clock for clock over the Cyrix iii.
 

rockhard

Golden Member
Nov 7, 1999
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Please correct me if im wrong, but that cut &amp; paste above states that the current Samuel Processors which include the Samuel 2 DO NOT INCLUDE THE REQUIRED APIC to do SMP.
If this is right, then the Samuel 2 will not be able to do SMP period :(