Centaur Technology announces IDT-C6 microprocessor, launches smallest Pentium-class processor, delivers optimum combination of price/performance/power to low-cost desktop and mobile PC manufacturers.BURLINGAME, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--May 20, 1997--"Stealth" start-up Centaur Technology Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary Wholly Owned Subsidiary A subsidiary whose parent company owns 100% of its common stock. Notes: In other words, the parent company owns the company outright and there are no minority owners. of Integrated Device Technology IDT (NASDAQ: IDTI) was founded in 1980 as a semiconductor vendor. Employing approximately 2500 people worldwide, headquartered in San Jose, California and operating a fab in Hillsboro, Oregon, the company both designs and fabricates semiconductor components. Inc. (IDT IDT Integrated Device Technology, Inc. (Santa Clara, CA, USA) IDT I Don't Think IDT Identity Theft IDT Interrupt Descriptor Table IDT Integrated DNA Technologies IDT Inactive Duty Training IDT Instructional Design & Technology ) (NASDAQ NASDAQ in full National Association of Securities Dealers Automated Quotations U.S. market for over-the-counter securities. Established in 1971 by the National Association of Securities Dealers (NASD), NASDAQ is an automated quotation system that reports on :IDTI IDTI Integrated Device Technology Inc ), today announced at PC Tech Forum the IDT-C6 processor, a Pentium-class x86 microprocessor designed for the low-cost desktop and mobile personal computer (PC) market. The IDT-C6 processor is a 5.4-million transistor device that will be manufactured using 0.35 micron, 4-layer-metal CMOS (Complementary Metal Oxide Semiconductor) Pronounced "c-moss." The most widely used integrated circuit design. It is found in almost every electronic product from handheld devices to mainframes. technology. At only 88mm(2) in size, the IDT-C6 processor is between 40 and 50 percent smaller than comparable Pentium-class processors. The IDT-C6 chip's small die size and low power was achieved by simplifying the architecture and eliminating or reducing complex logic found in other processors. The breakthrough will provide Pentium-class performance at lower power and price levels. "We have achieved our goal of delivering the best performance per watt and per dollar," said Glenn Henry, president of Centaur Technology. "The IDT-C6 microprocessor is smaller, as competitive in performance and more energy efficient than offerings from others in this category. Our aggressively small die size makes it possible for the IDT-C6 processor to bring increased value to manufacturers of sub-$1,500 PCs, an underserved sector of the marketplace, and in the process, redefine the price/performance equation." The IDT-C6 processor was designed by Centaur Technology and will be manufactured at IDT's state-of-the-art facilities in Hillsboro, Ore. and San Jose, Calif. It is the first of a series of microprocessors to emerge from Centaur's design facility in Austin, Texas. "We're proud of the Centaur team's achievement," said Len Perham, IDT's president and chief executive officer. "The combination of small die size coupled with a simplified CMOS process will allow IDT to manufacture the IDT-C6 chips very efficiently and at a low cost." The new IDT-C6 processor will include MMX-compatible instructions and operate at speeds up to 200 MHz (MegaHertZ) One million cycles per second. It is used to measure the transmission speed of electronic devices, including channels, buses and the computer's internal clock. A one-megahertz clock (1 MHz) means some number of bits (16, 32, 64, etc. . The IDT-C6 chip's performance is comparable to Pentium-class processors based on benchmarks such as Business Winstone 97 running on Microsoft Windows 95. The processors' Socket 7 hardware compatibility will enable PC manufacturers to take advantage of existing system designs and infrastructure, minimize system redesign and development costs and speed time to market for PC manufacturers. "Our goal is to extend the life of the Socket 7 infrastructure by delivering industry leading price performance and working closely with chipset and BIOS vendors," added Henry. Based on testing by Centaur, the processor executes all leading operating systems, including Windows 95, Windows NT, Windows 3.x, MS-DOS MS-DOS in full Microsoft Disk Operating System Operating system for personal computers. MS-DOS was based on DOS, developed in 1980 by Seattle Computer Products. Microsoft Corp. bought the rights to DOS in 1981, and released MS-DOS with IBM's PC that year. , Novell NetWare, OS/2 Warp, Unix and Solaris, as well as other software packages and the latest MMX-enabled multimedia applications. External testing and validation is currently in process. "The majority of the PC market for the next 12 months will continue to be served by Pentium-class processors," said Michael Slater of Microprocessor Report. "The existing vendors are focused on moving up the performance and price curve, leaving an opening for a new vendor like Centaur to serve the low-cost market where much of the growth is occurring." On May 28, IDT will participate in the Lehman Brothers' High Technology Exposition in New York City New York City: see New York, city. New York City City (pop., 2000: 8,008,278), southeastern New York, at the mouth of the Hudson River. The largest city in the U.S. , at which time the IDT-C6 processor will be exhibited and demonstrated. In addition, Centaur will be displaying the IDT-C6 processor at the Computex show in Taipei, Taiwan starting on June 3. Demonstrations of the microprocessor will take place June 3-7 at IDT's booth display at the trade show. Engineering samples of the IDT-C6 processor will be available to target customers at Computex. Centaur Technology expects the chip to be available for shipment starting in third quarter 1997, at which time pricing will be announced. The IDT-C6 processor will be manufactured and sold through IDT. Centaur Technology, an Austin, Texas-based microprocessor design and development company, was founded in 1995 by Glenn Henry, previously of IBM (International Business Machines Corporation, Armonk, NY, www.ibm.com) The world's largest computer company. IBM's product lines include the S/390 mainframes (zSeries), AS/400 midrange business systems (iSeries), RS/6000 workstations and servers (pSeries), Intel-based servers (xSeries) , Dell Computer and MIPS (Million Instructions Per Second) The execution speed of a computer. For example, .5 MIPS is 500,000 instructions per second; 100 MIPS is a hundred million instructions per second. . More information on the company can be found at http://www.centtech.com . Integrated Device Technology Inc. designs, manufactures and markets high-performance integrated circuits and modules used in products serving its rapidly growing targeted market segments: communications equipment, distributed computing systems, personal computers and office automation equipment. IDT enhances its customers' ability to optimize the cost and performance of their microprocessor-based systems by providing innovative solutions based on four product areas: communications products, including industry-leading FIFO (First In First Out) A storage method that retrieves the item stored for the longest time. Contrast with LIFO. See traffic engineering methods. FIFO - first-in first-out memories, multi-port memories, and Asynchronous Transfer Mode See ATM. (communications) Asynchronous Transfer Mode - (ATM, or "fast packet") A method for the dynamic allocation of bandwidth using a fixed-size packet (called a cell). See also ATM Forum, Wideband ATM. ATM acronyms. Indiana acronyms. (ATM) products; high-speed SRAMs and Fusion Memory(TM); RISC RISC in full Reduced Instruction Set Computing Computer architecture that uses a limited number of instructions. RISC became popular in microprocessors in the 1980s. microprocessors; and high-performance logic. Headquartered in Santa Clara, Calif., IDT employs approximately 4,400 people worldwide. More information on IDT and its products can be found at http://www.idt.com, and fax-on-demand services, by calling 800/9-IDT-FAX. Forward-looking statements in this release involve a number of risks and uncertainties including, but not limited to, product demand, pricing, changing economic conditions, timely development and market acceptance of new products, and other risk factors detailed in the company's Securities and Exchange Commission Filings. Actual results may differ materially from the company's projections. -0- IDT-C6 is a trademark of Integrated Device Technology. Pentium is a registered trademark of Intel; MMX (MultiMedia EXtensions) A set of 57 additional instructions built into the Pentium MMX chip for improved multimedia and modem performance by performing mathematical operations on multiple sets of data at the same time (see SIMD). is a trademark of Intel. Centaur Technology Inc. and Integrated Device Technology Inc. disclaim any proprietary interest in the trademarks of others. CONTACT: Fleishman-Hillard (for media inquiries) Andy Lark, 214/665-1312 Jennifer Hindert, 214/665-1318 hindertj@fleishman.com or Centaur Technology (for media inquiries) Jamal Haider, 408/492-8623 or IDT (for financial inquiries) Bill Snyder, 408/492-8481 Brian Boisseree, 408/654-6616 |
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