KX-6000 x86 CPU Pictured

AlphaAtlas

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Earlier this year, Shanghai Zhaoxin Semiconductor, which is jointly owned by VIA and the Chinese Government, showed a picture of the KX-6000 CPU as it won an award at a Chinese Industry Expo. The x86 CPU is built on a 16nm TSMC process, and features 8 cores that run at up to 3Ghz, a DDR4-3200 memory controller, an integrated GPU with a hardware media decoder, I/O like PCIe and SATA, and support for Windows 10. Like its predecessors, the KX-6000 was built to compete desktop and laptop chips made by foreign competitors. In that vein, Zhaoxin claims the system is on par with 7th generation Intel Core i5 CPUs, but what that means exactly or when the chip will reach mass production remains to be seen. Regardless, it's interesting to see VIA try and catch up to AMD/Intel, who have dominated the x86 CPU space for years.
 
I wouldn't run this Chinese Gov't chip in my neighbors PC, and I don't like my neighbor. Probably has all kinds of nice spy "features" built in.
If you live in China get Intel if you live in the West get this chip? At least the opposite agency will be spying on you :)

It's always nice to see another competitor in the x86 market.
 
I think this is awesome, more competition is good for us. I think its funny that people are worried about spying don't you think this is already happening?
 
Replace the "intel inside" with "spy inside"!
180px-Real_Intel_Inside_Logo_from_1991-2006.png
 
I love these responses, the bureau of Alternative Facts and Propaganda really has the sycophant wire whipped into a frenzy, huh?

Beep boop, my brothers, beep boop.
 
Earlier this year, Shanghai Zhaoxin Semiconductor, which is jointly owned by VIA and the Chinese Government, showed a picture of the KX-6000 CPU as it won an award at a Chinese Industry Expo. The x86 CPU is built on a 16nm TSMC process, and features 8 cores that run at up to 3Ghz, a DDR4-3200 memory controller, an integrated GPU with a hardware media decoder, I/O like PCIe and SATA, and support for Windows 10. Like its predecessors, the KX-6000 was built to compete desktop and laptop chips made by foreign competitors. In that vein, Zhaoxin claims the system is on par with 7th generation Intel Core i5 CPUs, but what that means exactly or when the chip will reach mass production remains to be seen. Regardless, it's interesting to see VIA try and catch up to AMD/Intel, who have dominated the x86 CPU space for years.

You forgot to mention it's built in hardware backdoor.
 
Equivalent to an i5 7th gen?

Bench + cpu-id or it didn't happen.

Also at 3ghz that would be a hell of a cpu core if it was as fast.
 
When they say x86, are they really referring to the old 32bit instruction set? A lot of people colloquially use x86, to refer to not just x86, but all of its modern derivatives, including all the MMX/SSE/AVX and AMD64 extensions.

It will use x86-64 , would assume they wouldn't step back on the SSE/AVX and other extensions either.
https://www.anandtech.com/show/13388/zhaoxin-shows-x86-compatible-kaixian-kx6000

I'm gonna assume it will be using the embedded version of the s3chrome for graphics.
-Edit, somehow didn't know VIA sold that to HTC, but would still think it would be something like that.
 
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It will use x86-64 , would assume they wouldn't step back on the SSE/AVX and other extensions either.
https://www.anandtech.com/show/13388/zhaoxin-shows-x86-compatible-kaixian-kx6000

I'm gonna assume it will be using the embedded version of the s3chrome for graphics.
-Edit, somehow didn't know VIA sold that to HTC, but would still think it would be something like that.

The Anandtech article's performance claim is that 8 cores = 4 intel non-hyper-threaded cores, so it's maybe a little faster per-clock than the old Via Nano.

So all they did was put eight of the cores on a single die (up from two), add a memory controller and upgrade to AVX "support" (could still use half-width vector units like the original). Why did this take them eight years to implement? Oh yeah, because there is NO DEMAND for these processors, so they're made on a shoestring budget.

After Centaur Tech went out-of-order, and their chip fell FANTASTICALLY short of everyone else's 4-wide (Core 2, Phenom) designs, they were just left jacking themselves off.

https://www.anandtech.com/bench/product/73?vs=104

https://www.anandtech.com/bench/product/44?vs=104

AMD's 2-wide Brazos cores destroyed Via in performance/watt and price, as well as stomping their S3 Chrome IGP. And they haven't improved performance since.

https://www.cpubenchmark.net/compare/VIA-Nano-X2-U4025-vs-AMD-E-350/1981vs249

It's expensive to play with the big leagues, especially when you're owned by an idiot company like Via. AMD, despite their many fuckups, its run by GENIUSES, by comparison.
 
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There are higher stakes than arrest, don't you think? Might ask Sergei Skripal and his daughter, Yulia.

Well if you are an intelligence officer handling US state secrets, then yeah I supposed you wouldn't want a chip that the Chinese can see into.

Joe sixpack? I bet he'd rather have the Chinese govt. see his foreign bank statements and emails than the IRS.
 
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So is this jointly owned thing a loophole to the whole x86 licensing? I mean I know VIA has a license, but I was unaware they could jointly own/work on CPU's with it. I mean could AMD become jointly owned with Samsung for example and do similar?
 
So is this jointly owned thing a loophole to the whole x86 licensing? I mean I know VIA has a license, but I was unaware they could jointly own/work on CPU's with it. I mean could AMD become jointly owned with Samsung for example and do similar?

Well, AMD's co-producing a chip in China for that new console, so presumably so.
 
So is this jointly owned thing a loophole to the whole x86 licensing? I mean I know VIA has a license, but I was unaware they could jointly own/work on CPU's with it. I mean could AMD become jointly owned with Samsung for example and do similar?

Apparantly it stems from an FTC settlement in 2010
https://www.ftc.gov/news-events/pre...charges-anticompetitive-conduct-against-intel

In addition, the FTC settlement order will require Intel to:

  • modify its intellectual property agreements with AMD, Nvidia, and Via so that those companies have more freedom to consider mergers or joint ventures with other companies, without the threat of being sued by Intel for patent infringement;
  • offer to extend Via’s x86 licensing agreement for five years beyond the current agreement, which expires in 2013;
  • maintain a key interface, known as the PCI Express Bus, for at least six years in a way that will not limit the performance of graphics processing chips. These assurances will provide incentives to manufacturers of complementary, and potentially competitive, products to Intel’s CPUs to continue to innovate; and
  • disclose to software developers that Intel computer compilers discriminate between Intel chips and non-Intel chips, and that they may not register all the features of non-Intel chips. Intel also will have to reimburse all software vendors who want to recompile their software using a non-Intel compiler.
 
Interesting hadn't realized the new console AMD is doing in China was co-produced or it just slipped my mind. This defiantly opens up a lot of possibilities w/joint venture possibilities moving forward. Wonder if AMD will do a more ambitious joint venture at some point or another.
 
And what about chipsets? What socket would this work in?
Socket 370 and good luck getting soundblaster audio to work without digging through a million drivers.


Actually I would love to see the old VIA make it into the market again. I would never buy an x86 or x64 CPU from them but it's competition. The old chipsets left a taste in my mouth you'd have to lick a dogs ass to get rid of though.

They should have focused on an ARM chip and forward thinking would invest in NPU sets.
But they are catering to the extreme low end, which ultimately benefits computer repair shops, so I guess they are thinking of jobs.
 
TL;DR

People forget that VIA made x86 processors in the 90's, and bought Cyrix from National Semiconductor with the intention of expanding the VIA x86 processor with Cyrix' Jalapeno cores. But then again, most millennials don't know who Cyrix is. Or NexGen. Most people don't remember that there was a time in the 90's when you could make a Windows computer based on either Intel, IBM, Cyrix, AMD, VIA or NexGen processors, all with the same x86 motherboard.

VIA's history is similar to AMD's - they were making money in the 90's and went on a buying spree, then lost all their profits and nearly went out of business. The big difference between VIA and AMD is that VIA made more money from making motherboard chipsets (those chips that were known as 'north bridge' and 'south bridge' chips) and other add-on chips such as sound processors and networking chips. VIA was known for bundling - you could get all your motherboard chips from VIA, with VIA North/South bridge chips, VIA sound processors, VIA network chips and VIA USB hubs. But just before the introduction of the Intel Core family of processors Intel took control of its North/South bridge technology and ended the licensing agreements that allowed outside companies to make the Intel bridge chips (NVidia used to be a big bridge chip manufacturer.)

VIA, which had bought National Semiconductor and S3, suddenly lost their core business and couldn't afford a big research team. VIA was also hampered by the mediocrity of their chipsets - at a time when motherboard chips could make a real difference in the overall speed of your system, VIA chips were just average. Without the power of bundling, VIA now had to sell their sound, network and USB chips as individual items, which meant that those chips had to compete against the best-of-breed in the market. That's when RealTek really went to work shoveling sand in VIA's ass, taking over 90% of the embedded sound processor market. VIA network chips were passable, but Intel started offering great prices on 10Mb network chips. VIA's early USB silicon was wonky. I'm not sure how close they were to going out of business, but VIA shrank fast and refocused on small embedded systems based on those VIA processor designs they had already developed.

My point is, VIA actually has a reasonably mature x86 portfolio with a lot of untouched intellectual property and plenty of valid x86 licensing agreements. And even funnier, VIA doesn't have to worry about fighting patent licensing with Intel in the United States, because VIA has very little sales or growth in the United States. If Intel wants to challenge some of VIA's patent and licensing holdings, they have to do it in China.

Good luck with that, Intel.
 
But I want chipset specs! Do they even have USB 3.0 yet? ;P
I wanna say they do...back when I was on a via kick, I'm pretty sure they implemented usb 3.0. That was about 10 years ago, when the spec was first released, so I could be remembering wrong.
 
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