Editing Cyrix 6x86 (section)

{{short description|Microprocessor}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=October 2020}}{{Infobox CPU
|name           = 6x86/MII
|image          = Cyrix 6x86-P166.jpg
|image_size     = 200px
|caption        = A Cyrix 6x86-P166 processor
|produced-start ={{plainlist|
*6x86 - Oct 1995
*6x86L - Jan 1997
*6x86MX - Jun 1997
*MII - May 1998
}} 
|produced-end   ={{plainlist|
*6x86 - Jun 1999
*6x86L - Jun 1999
*6x86MX - May 1998
*MII - Early 2000s
}} 
|model          = 
|transistors    = 4.3M 500 [[nanometers|nm]]
|slowest        =80 
|fastest        =333 
|fsb-slowest    =40 
|fsb-fastest    =100 
|soldby         ={{plainlist|
*[[Cyrix]]
*[[IBM]]
*[[SGS-Thomson]]
*[[VIA Technologies|VIA]]
}} 
|sock1          = [[Socket 7]]
|sock2          = [[Super Socket 7]]
|brand1         = 
|arch           = [[x86-16]], [[IA-32]]
|microarch      = 6x86
|cpuid          =
|code           = 
|numcores       = 1
|l1cache        = {{plainlist|
*16&nbsp;KB (6x86/L)
*64&nbsp;KB (6x86MX / MII)
}}
|application    = Desktop
|predecessor    = [[Cyrix 5x86]]
|successor      =[[Cyrix III]] 
|fast-unit=MHz|slow-unit=MHz|fsb-slow-unit=MHz|fsb-fast-unit=MHz|variant1=6x86, 6x86L, 6x86MX|manuf1=[[IBM]]|manuf2=[[SGS-Thomson]]|manuf3=[[National Semiconductor]]|core1=M1|core2=M1L (Low voltage)|core3=M1R (3M to 5M)|core4=MII (MMX)}}

The '''Cyrix 6x86''' is a line of sixth-generation, [[32-bit]] [[x86]] [[microprocessor]]s designed and released by [[Cyrix]] in 1995. Cyrix, being a [[Fabless manufacturing|fabless]] company, had the chips manufactured by [[IBM]] and [[SGS-Thomson]].<ref>{{Cite news |last=Slater |first=Michael |date=28 May 1996 |title=Beyond the Pentium; Intel's top challengers have reached the Pentium level, but do they pose a threat to the king of the CPU hill? We examine the chips and vendors to find out. |volume=15 |pages=100–102 |work=[[PC Mag]] |publisher=Ziff Davis, Inc. |issue=10 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MPfwx4yZJTQC&dq=cyrix+6x86&pg=PA102 |access-date=30 March 2022 |issn=0888-8507}}</ref><ref name=":0">{{Cite news |date=9 October 1995 |title=CYRIX CLAIMS ITS 100MHZ 6X86 CLONE IS THE FASTEST |work=[[TechMonitor]] |url=https://techmonitor.ai/technology/cyrix_claims_its_100mhz_6x86_clone_is_the_fastest |access-date=25 April 2022}}</ref> The 6x86 was made as a direct competitor to [[Intel|Intel's]] [[Pentium (original)|Pentium]] microprocessor line, and was pin compatible. 

During the 6x86's development, the majority of applications ([[office software]] as well as games) performed almost entirely [[integer]] operations. The designers foresaw that future applications would most likely maintain this instruction focus. So, to optimize the chip's performance for what they believed to be the most likely application of the CPU, the integer execution resources received most of the transistor budget. 

This would later prove to be a strategic mistake, as the popularity of the P5 Pentium caused many [[software developer]]s to hand-optimize code in [[X86 assembly language|assembly language]], to take advantage of the P5 Pentium's tightly [[instruction pipelining|pipelined]] and lower latency FPU. For example, the highly anticipated [[first-person shooter]] ''[[Quake (video game)|Quake]]'' used highly optimized assembly code designed almost entirely around the P5 Pentium's FPU. As a result, the P5 Pentium significantly outperformed other CPUs in the game.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Potoroaca |first=Adrian |date=30 December 2021 |title=Cyrix: Gone But Not Forgotten; Peak Cyrix Through the Lens of Quake |url=https://www.techspot.com/article/2120-cyrix/ |access-date=5 April 2022 |website=[[TechSpot]]}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Proven |first=Liam |date=5 June 2016 |title=The rise & fall of the first real x86 rival to Intel: the Cyrix 6x86 |url=https://liam-on-linux.livejournal.com/49259.html? |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210422004926/https://liam-on-linux.livejournal.com/49259.html |archive-date=22 April 2021 |access-date=5 April 2022 |website=Liam On Linux}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Shimpi |first=Anand |date=8 April 1997 |title=Cyrix 6x86 MX |url=https://www.anandtech.com/show/34 |access-date=7 April 2022 |website=[[AnandTech]]}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Sood |first=Yatharth |date=24 July 2020 |title=How did a single game lead to the shake-up of an entire industry, and sounded the death knell of an entire corporation? |work=[[Medium (website)|Medium]] |url=https://yatharthsood.medium.com/how-did-a-single-game-lead-to-the-changing-of-a-whole-industry-and-the-death-knell-of-a-eeab5eb7f525 |access-date=7 April 2022}}</ref>

After Cyrix was bought by [[National Semiconductor]] then later [[VIA Technologies|VIA]], the 6x86 continued to be produced up until the early 2000s.