{"video_id":"W98HxrwdESc","title":"The CPUs You've NEVER Heard Of","channel":"Techquickie","show":"Techquickie","published_at":"2023-05-05T14:58:16Z","duration_s":310,"segments":[{"start_s":0.0,"end_s":5.84,"text":"Intel or AMD? It's the only real choice any of us have for PC processors these days.","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":5.84,"end_s":12.64,"text":"But there was actually a time when this wasn't the case. Today, we're looking back at high-end","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":12.64,"end_s":19.52,"text":"CPUs of yesteryear that came from places you might not expect. First up, the NEC V20,","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":19.52,"end_s":26.08,"text":"a chip from 1984 with that old-school centipede look since that predates modern LGA and even PGA","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":26.96,"end_s":32.16,"text":"They basically took an Intel 8088, a very popular chip at the time, and one of the first to use the","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":32.16,"end_s":38.08,"text":"common x86 architecture and souped it up. The V20 had more than twice as many transistors as the","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":38.08,"end_s":43.68,"text":"8088 and also had an extra internal data bus to moot bits around more quickly. Additionally,","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":43.68,"end_s":48.16,"text":"it had an emulation mode for the old Intel 8080, enabling it to run programs designed for an","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":48.16,"end_s":54.64,"text":"operating system called CPM. Although x86 chips commonly ended up being paired with DOS, CPM was","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":54.64,"end_s":60.32,"text":"actually still very common in business applications until the mid-1980s. So not only was the NEC","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":60.32,"end_s":66.4,"text":"V20 a more powerful chip than the 8088, it was also significantly more versatile. There's just one","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":66.4,"end_s":72.96,"text":"problem. Intel never gave NEC permission to fiddle with their stuff, so naturally Team Blue","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":72.96,"end_s":78.48,"text":"sued NEC for patent infringement. However, NEC actually won because a judge ruled that Intel","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":78.48,"end_s":83.76,"text":"didn't protect their copyright diligently enough, and that NEC made enough modifications to Intel's","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":83.76,"end_s":90.4,"text":"design that the V20 became a non-infringing product. However, NEC's later PCCPUs didn't","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":90.4,"end_s":95.36,"text":"do too well in the market, and they stopped making new processors by 1990. But if you weren't","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":95.36,"end_s":100.88,"text":"familiar with any sea chips, it might really surprise you that Microsoft actually dipped its","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":100.88,"end_s":107.04,"text":"toes into the processor waters back in the late 1980s. But let's be upfront, it wasn't Bill Gates","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":107.04,"end_s":111.36,"text":"designing a new piece of silicon from scratch in his basement. Microsoft came out with something","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":111.36,"end_s":118.16,"text":"called the Mach 10, which was an expansion card released in 1986 that featured an 8086 CPU.","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":1},{"start_s":118.8,"end_s":124.72,"text":"But the 8086 was clocked at 9.54 MHz, which was twice the frequency of a typical 8088.","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":1},{"start_s":125.36,"end_s":130.48,"text":"This meant a significant boost in performance, and the design was actually also pretty cool.","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":1},{"start_s":130.48,"end_s":134.4,"text":"You would unplug your old CPU, but instead of installing a new one, you'd instead plug a","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":1},{"start_s":134.4,"end_s":139.28,"text":"ribbon cable into the CPU socket, which would then lead to the Mach 10 board that you would also then","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":1},{"start_s":139.28,"end_s":143.92,"text":"insert into one of the motherboard's expansion slots. And since it was a full-blown card,","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":1},{"start_s":143.92,"end_s":149.2,"text":"why not add more features to it? Like, the Mach 10 gave you a mouse port at which at the time would","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":1},{"start_s":149.2,"end_s":155.52,"text":"otherwise require its own separate add-in card. Then, in 1987, Microsoft released the Mach 20,","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":155.52,"end_s":162.48,"text":"which had a 286 processor. Holy crap! As well as a mouse port, and even an option for a sort of","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":162.48,"end_s":168.72,"text":"granddaughter board? That added another 3.5 megs of RAM, which was quite a lot for the time.","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":168.72,"end_s":174.0,"text":"This meant that you could run Windows 2.0 and even a version of OS2 that Microsoft made specifically","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":174.0,"end_s":179.6,"text":"for the Mach 20 with IBM. But this specific OS2 had all sorts of performance problems,","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":179.6,"end_s":184.48,"text":"and only 11 copies were sold. That can't be right, could it? Probably.","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":185.28,"end_s":190.24,"text":"Software was aside. As new computers got cheaper and more functionality became integrated onto the","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":190.24,"end_s":195.68,"text":"average motherboard, the concept of using a separate expansion board to keep an older computer current","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":195.68,"end_s":202.8,"text":"fell by the wayside. A more practical option was the Cyrix 6x86 released in 1995. It was designed","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":202.8,"end_s":207.68,"text":"as a drop-in replacement for the original Pentium lineup. Cyrix had high hopes for their fancy new","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":207.68,"end_s":212.64,"text":"CPU as it was compatible with Pentium systems, but it was faster in terms of integer performance.","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":212.64,"end_s":217.12,"text":"That is, operations that don't involve a decimal point. Most productivity software,","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":217.12,"end_s":221.04,"text":"as well as many games of the time used integer operations, so the design decision seemed to","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":221.04,"end_s":226.56,"text":"make some sense. But as any tech enthusiast knows, it's never long before more powerful or more","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":226.56,"end_s":232.16,"text":"specialized hardware comes along. As the 1990s went on, more and more games started to utilize the","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":232.16,"end_s":237.04,"text":"floating point units of contemporary CPUs. In particular, the blockbuster game Quake,","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":237.04,"end_s":240.96,"text":"you might have heard of that one, relied on the relatively strong floating point unit of the","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":240.96,"end_s":246.0,"text":"Pentium, meaning Cyrix CPUs just couldn't compete in Quake and other applications that were gaining","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":246.08,"end_s":252.64,"text":"popularity. So, with the design that was decidedly stuck in the past, the 6x86 was relegated to the","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":252.64,"end_s":257.04,"text":"low end of the market. Cyrix was later bought out, and although they, funnily enough, earned a","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":257.04,"end_s":262.48,"text":"reputation as trailblazers in the budget CPU market, their name eventually faded into computing history.","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":263.12,"end_s":267.12,"text":"Like this episode. Thanks for watching guys, like, dislike, check out some of our other videos,","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":267.12,"end_s":270.32,"text":"comment with video suggestions down below, and don't forget to subscribe and follow.","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0}],"full_text":"Intel or AMD? It's the only real choice any of us have for PC processors these days. But there was actually a time when this wasn't the case. Today, we're looking back at high-end CPUs of yesteryear that came from places you might not expect. First up, the NEC V20, a chip from 1984 with that old-school centipede look since that predates modern LGA and even PGA They basically took an Intel 8088, a very popular chip at the time, and one of the first to use the common x86 architecture and souped it up. The V20 had more than twice as many transistors as the 8088 and also had an extra internal data bus to moot bits around more quickly. Additionally, it had an emulation mode for the old Intel 8080, enabling it to run programs designed for an operating system called CPM. Although x86 chips commonly ended up being paired with DOS, CPM was actually still very common in business applications until the mid-1980s. So not only was the NEC V20 a more powerful chip than the 8088, it was also significantly more versatile. There's just one problem. Intel never gave NEC permission to fiddle with their stuff, so naturally Team Blue sued NEC for patent infringement. However, NEC actually won because a judge ruled that Intel didn't protect their copyright diligently enough, and that NEC made enough modifications to Intel's design that the V20 became a non-infringing product. However, NEC's later PCCPUs didn't do too well in the market, and they stopped making new processors by 1990. But if you weren't familiar with any sea chips, it might really surprise you that Microsoft actually dipped its toes into the processor waters back in the late 1980s. But let's be upfront, it wasn't Bill Gates designing a new piece of silicon from scratch in his basement. Microsoft came out with something called the Mach 10, which was an expansion card released in 1986 that featured an 8086 CPU. But the 8086 was clocked at 9.54 MHz, which was twice the frequency of a typical 8088. This meant a significant boost in performance, and the design was actually also pretty cool. You would unplug your old CPU, but instead of installing a new one, you'd instead plug a ribbon cable into the CPU socket, which would then lead to the Mach 10 board that you would also then insert into one of the motherboard's expansion slots. And since it was a full-blown card, why not add more features to it? Like, the Mach 10 gave you a mouse port at which at the time would otherwise require its own separate add-in card. Then, in 1987, Microsoft released the Mach 20, which had a 286 processor. Holy crap! As well as a mouse port, and even an option for a sort of granddaughter board? That added another 3.5 megs of RAM, which was quite a lot for the time. This meant that you could run Windows 2.0 and even a version of OS2 that Microsoft made specifically for the Mach 20 with IBM. But this specific OS2 had all sorts of performance problems, and only 11 copies were sold. That can't be right, could it? Probably. Software was aside. As new computers got cheaper and more functionality became integrated onto the average motherboard, the concept of using a separate expansion board to keep an older computer current fell by the wayside. A more practical option was the Cyrix 6x86 released in 1995. It was designed as a drop-in replacement for the original Pentium lineup. Cyrix had high hopes for their fancy new CPU as it was compatible with Pentium systems, but it was faster in terms of integer performance. That is, operations that don't involve a decimal point. Most productivity software, as well as many games of the time used integer operations, so the design decision seemed to make some sense. But as any tech enthusiast knows, it's never long before more powerful or more specialized hardware comes along. As the 1990s went on, more and more games started to utilize the floating point units of contemporary CPUs. In particular, the blockbuster game Quake, you might have heard of that one, relied on the relatively strong floating point unit of the Pentium, meaning Cyrix CPUs just couldn't compete in Quake and other applications that were gaining popularity. So, with the design that was decidedly stuck in the past, the 6x86 was relegated to the low end of the market. Cyrix was later bought out, and although they, funnily enough, earned a reputation as trailblazers in the budget CPU market, their name eventually faded into computing history. Like this episode. Thanks for watching guys, like, dislike, check out some of our other videos, comment with video suggestions down below, and don't forget to subscribe and follow."}