Russian Company Taps China’s Zhaoxin x86 CPU to Replace AMD, Intel CPUs

Since AMD and Intel have discontinued sales of their processors in Russia, the country is going to have to look for alternatives if it does not want to find itself back in the stone age someday. This week, motherboard manufacturer Dannie, which has operations in Russia, China, Lithuania, and Turkey, unveiled its newest motherboard, which is based on the system-on-chip created by Zhaoxin. Although this chip is not even close to being able to compete with modern CPUs from AMD and Intel, it is compatible with an extremely large majority of applications and operating systems, which means that it can, in fact, replace these processors.

The LuJiaZui microarchitecture is featured on Zhaoxin’s eight-core KaiXian KX-6640MA system-on-chip, which is included on Dannie’s MBX-Z60A micro-ATX motherboard. Additionally, this motherboard has a 4MB L2 cache and a clock that ranges from 2.10 GHz to 2.70 GHz. In addition, the SoC has an integrated graphics processor, 16 lanes for PCI Express 3.0, a built-on SATA controller, an integrated USB 3.0 controller, as well as support for several other integral I/O technologies. Because the chip is designed for use in desktop computers as well as laptops, its maximum thermal design power is capped at 25W.

According to Habr’s report, the specifications of the MBX-Z60A motherboard include two memory slots for DDR4 memory, two PCIe x16 slots for add-in-boards, one M.2-2280 slot for solid-state drives (SSDs), an M.2-2230 slot for Wi-Fi/Bluetooth adapters, and three SATA ports. Additionally, the motherboard carries two memory slots for DDR4 memory. When it comes to the platform’s external I/O connections, there are PS/2 ports, USB ports, and display outputs (including a DisplayPort, an HDMI, and a VGA/D-Sub). Additionally, there is a GbE connector, 3.5-mm audio input/output ports, and a GbE connector.

In terms of overall performance, the KaiXian KX-6640MA CPU is inferior than its predecessor, the KaiXian KX-U6780A, which occupies a higher position in the product stack and was put through its paces by our team a few years ago. Nevertheless, the one at the lower end is probably cheaper as well, which is vital for many customers, especially those who merely run office apps and do not require substantial performance anyway.

The fact that processors developed by Zhaoxin, a joint venture between Via Technologies and the Shanghai Municipal Government, feature the x86 instruction set architecture gives them an advantage over other CPUs designed in China. This advantage allows them to perform better than other CPUs designed in China. As a result, they are suitable for use with dozens of operating systems, one of which is Windows, as well as tens of thousands of applications. Because of this, despite the fact that the processors made by Zhaoxin are noticeably slower than the CPUs produced by AMD and Intel, they are still considered an alternative due to the fact that they are compatible.