Back in 1978, I was admitted to Northwestern Polytechnical University.

Chapter 295 All Innovations Originate from the East
On the same Christmas Eve, in Silicon Valley.

"Great! Our 386 processor is finally out!" Grove exclaimed excitedly. "You've created a miracle!"

Gerald sat wearily on the sofa: "That's right, it's been built, but our manufacturing process hasn't been improved. We're still using the 1.5-micron process, while Loongson has already started using 0.8 microns."

They've fallen behind in every way. Heaven knows how Easterners have so much technological reserves. They should have opened up completely during the Paris Industrial Exhibition and used a large number of Western lithography machines to impact the Eastern market. As a result, that Eastern microelectronics company now has orders booked until the year after next!

The problem of outdated technology remains significant.

“That’s right, our technology is outdated. Right now, we can only produce a batch using the outdated technology. The factory is still improving the technology and will soon transition to 1 micrometer,” Grove said. “Now, everything is getting better. We in the United States can’t use Loongson; there might be problems with it. Our own processors are the most suitable!”

“Okay,” Gerald said. “Our R&D team would like to request a period of leave; we are exhausted.”

"Okay! But... you have to come with me to the press conference tomorrow."

"Ah."

Christmas Day, the banquet hall of the Signia by Hilton San Jose, Silicon Valley's largest hotel.

Reporters flocked to the event, and other bigwigs from Silicon Valley were also invited, filling the banquet hall to capacity.

On the podium, Grove felt as if he had reached the pinnacle of his life. Facing countless cameras, he smiled and said, "Ladies and gentlemen, we at Intel are the pioneers of microprocessors and the most promising high-tech company in Silicon Valley. In the past six months, although we have been temporarily impacted by Loongson, at the critical moment, we at Intel have brought out our strongest strength!"

"In just six months, we not only developed the 286 processor, but also the 386 processor. This processor is an advanced 32-bit processor with a maximum addressing capacity of 4GB and a faster computing speed. Moreover, we have integrated a coprocessor into the general-purpose processor, resulting in top-notch performance when performing floating-point operations!"

"What percentage of the performance of Loongson processor can this processor achieve?"

Upon hearing this question, Grove's expression darkened: "Sir reporter, I think your question is flawed. Don't compare Loongson to us; they're not worthy! Loongson only gained popularity because it uses a 32-bit architecture. In reality, Loongson's performance is nowhere near that of our 386!"

What is the clock speed of the 386 processor?

"Our clock speed starts at 12 MHz and can reach up to 40 MHz!"

This is supposed to be incomparable to Loongson? Apple computers currently on the market already have this clock speed, okay?
"Moreover, this is the performance of our current products using the 1.5-micron process. Once we switch to the 1-micron process, the main frequency can reach 50 MHz!"

This at least salvaged some face, right?
Grove looked at everyone present: "Furthermore, comparing clock speeds is meaningless; the key is whether the computer can run various software smoothly and serve our work and life..."

Next, Grove went on to talk about other things, such as operational efficiency and procedural flow, creating a relaxed atmosphere.

"Now, I announce that this state-of-the-art processor will cost $360! It fully embodies the magic of Moore's Law, with significantly improved chip integration and rapid performance development, all while maintaining the same price as the original!"

Grove raised the 386 chip, a square chip with many pins on the back. The chip's shape was similar to Loongson's!
Click, click!
Countless camera lenses were pointed at his hand, at the 386 processor.

After the press conference ended and the reporters dispersed, some of the attendees were called into a small meeting room next door. Steam rose from the coffee as Grove looked at the crowd and said, "Ladies and gentlemen, Intel has put in a lot of effort to create the 386 processor, whose performance is no worse than Loongson. Now, we need your support."

Everyone else was drinking coffee, as if no one was listening to Grove.

“Scarey, your IBM company can completely abandon Loongson! We had nothing to say about you using Loongson before, after all, Intel didn’t have a 32-bit processor, but now we do, so... you have to support our own American companies, and Silicon Valley should unite.”

Skyri looked up: "The 1.5-micron process will inevitably generate a huge amount of heat. Let's wait until your process advances to 1 micron."

"Steve Jobs, what about your Apple company?"

"We need to finish processing the previous Loongson orders... Our company's computer business has just started to pick up, and we can't switch platforms rashly right now..."

These people wouldn't buy it if there weren't 32-bit processors available, and now that there are, they still won't buy it!
Grove took a deep breath and then continued speaking.

"Everyone! If you place an order now, you can enjoy a discount. If you order 100,000 units, the price will be 10% off, and if you order 200,000 units, the price will be 20% off."

Their current R&D is all financed by loans. Their processors are no longer selling; they absolutely must sell the 386 processor, otherwise…

Thump thump thump... Just then, someone ran in.

"Just now, just now... we received news that Dongfang... is going to hold a press conference to launch the Loongson 2 processor and the Huaxin 2 display chip..."

Teng!
Skylar stood up: "What are the performance specifications of these processors?"

"I don't know yet, but I've heard that they want to make computers produce sound and video; they're going to build a multimedia computer."

"Okay, book the tickets right away, let's go to the East!"

"We need to order more chips this time."

Wow…

Soon, everyone in the conference room left!

Grove was completely dumbfounded.

Computers were originally high-tech devices. The first computer was used to crack codes, then to calculate the trajectory of ballistic missiles, and later to perform various numerical calculations in aerospace, nuclear industry, and so on. It wasn't until Intel manufactured microprocessors that computers began to reach homes and individual users.

But those were for learning and research. I never imagined... that Easterners would use computers for entertainment? This will definitely usher in a new era, and maybe even upgrade home game consoles!

Grove's first consideration was upgrading the entire industry, and then... he thought of himself and Intel.

The future... is over! The 386 was developed with great effort and sponsorship, hoping to turn things around. Now, just as the 386 caught up with the Loongson 1, the Loongson 2 has emerged, opening up a new track.

Upgrading from 16-bit to 32-bit is something they can do within six months, as the changes aren't significant. However, adding a new multimedia instruction set would require a complete overhaul of the internal architecture, which Intel, even with ample funding, couldn't accomplish in a year; it would take at least two.

Two years later, Loongson 3 and even Loongson 4 were released.

We can't beat them, we really can't beat them!
Intel is finished!

December 26, Beijing, Friendship Hotel, Banquet Hall.

It's the same place, the same people, but the same arguments are gone.

When Loongson 1 was released, countless people suspected that it was a copy of Intel processors. But with Loongson 2, no one thought that anymore. Everyone was discussing what kind of performance improvements Loongson 2 would bring.

"I heard it's a multimedia computer, but I wonder what it actually is."

"Multimedia, of course, means being able to play videos and listen to audio."

"How...did this happen?" "I don't know."

"So, does that mean we can watch movies on our computers without having to go to the cinema?"

"Definitely. I think that games like Super Mario, which have been selling like hotcakes in the US recently, might be ported to PC."

"Oh, the guests have arrived!"

"IBM, Apple... all the high-tech companies from the United States are here!"

Jobs sat down in the chair, his eyes shining as he looked towards the stage, at the multimedia computer—a sight that perfectly aligned with his own ideas!

Apple computers using Loongson processors are now selling like hotcakes. While game consoles were the hottest topic this Christmas, Apple actually sold over 100,000 units! That's a remarkable achievement.

Now, if we had a multimedia computer, Jobs believed we could sell a million units!

386? Bullshit! Who would even look at Intel anymore? Forget about a 10% discount, I wouldn't even take it at 10% off. It's too outdated!
Finally, amidst everyone's anticipation, Engineer Ni stepped onto the stage.

"Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the Loongson 2 press conference. After releasing the Loongson 1, we knew that the performance of this processor still could not meet the needs of users. Therefore, we worked intensively to develop the Loongson 2. Compared with the previous one, the first thing is the clock speed, which starts from 50 MHz."

The 386's maximum clock speed is only 40 MHz. Now, the Loongson 2 starts at 50 MHz, and given the potential of the Loongson 1, it can easily double that, which is... 100 MHz!

This is absolutely groundbreaking—the first processor to exceed 100 megabits per second!

"After all, to play our MPEG-1 standard dynamic images, our processor's computing power has to be up to par." Engineer Ni's words confused everyone present again. What did he mean?

Since we're talking about building a multimedia computer, it must be able to play multimedia content! The old cassette tapes are definitely not usable. We can combine them with VCDs developed by other factories in China to play movie discs on the computer. That's one of the common ways to use a multimedia computer.

Currently, VCD hardware development is still being carried out intensively by relevant research and development institutions. Loongson is not involved in this field, but it needs to be adapted. Now is a good time to introduce it to the world.

The relevant standards in this field are all set by the East!
"What is MPEG-1?"

Interrupting a press conference is very impolite, but everyone is curious.

“Alright, let me introduce it to you.” Engineer Ni said, “Moving Picture Experts Group-1, the first standard of the Moving Picture Experts Group, is mainly used for digital storage media with a bitrate of less than 1.5 megabytes per second.”

The name was also given by Qin Liang, but Qin Liang did not take credit for it.

"This standard was developed by the Department of Mathematics at Northwestern Polytechnical University. The video resolution of this standard is 352x240, and the frame rate is 30 or 25 frames per second. The core of it is intra-frame compression and inter-frame compression technology, namely DCT transform and motion compensation. The audio reaches the CD standard, which we call MPEG-1 Layer 1, or MP1. After these technologies, the transmission quality is similar to that of traditional VCR recorders, but the price will be very cheap."

Although computer science majors are very busy, math majors have a lot of free time, so this technology was developed by the math department.

In this era, if you want to watch movies at home, you can only use videotapes, which are not cheap, costing tens or even hundreds of dollars per tape. On the other hand, the price of DVDs pressed in factories can be reduced to just a few cents!

With CDs came all sorts of pirated movies!

"A 600-700 MB disc can hold about 70 minutes of movie footage, so a Hollywood blockbuster can be transferred using two discs," Engineer Ni continued. "Our relevant departments in China are developing a compatible Video CD player, and our Loongson 2 computer will also provide support for this product..."

Computers can be used to watch movies! Computers can be a home entertainment tool!
The reporters keenly caught this news; they all knew that a new era had begun!

"Okay, next, I'll continue introducing Loongson 2. It uses 0.8-micron technology and integrates 1.2 million transistors..."

Loongson 2 will definitely become a blockbuster product!
"Next, I will hand the stage over to the Huaxin project. Please have Mr. Yu, the person in charge, introduce the Huaxin II graphics processor. This processor is of epoch-making significance..."

Yu Youcheng came up. He developed GPUs, something Intel had never done before. So even if Intel wanted to sue, we weren't afraid. Now, we had to let him make a name for himself, so that more technical people from Silicon Valley would come running.

Huaxin No. 1 earned over a billion yuan. Now, we are financially powerful and can afford to support as many engineers as we want, which will also promote the continued iteration of chips!
"Ladies and gentlemen, computers shouldn't just display characters; they should display images, and even 3D images. Our company, Huaxin, specializes in graphics display. The previous Huaxin No. 1 was only used in game consoles due to insufficient performance. Huaxin No. 2 can finally be used in computers! Its emergence gives computers a much greater role; they can be used for graphic design and gaming, and the display effect is much better than that of a television..."

Televisions are too poor in performance, so they use interlaced scanning, resulting in low refresh rates and resolutions. Computers, on the other hand, use progressive scanning, which provides a much clearer picture. Therefore, playing games on a computer is definitely better than playing games on a television!
The short man sitting below immediately changed his expression.

The Huaxin FC caused a bloodbath in the US game console market, even securing orders for five million units. Nintendo was also very interested and actively planned to enter the US game console market. They had Huaxin's chips and believed that their game console would be just as popular as the Huaxin FC.

Today, a press conference was being held here, and their partner rushed over, only to hear devastating news!
They ordered the Huaxin No. 1 chip, which will soon be obsolete! If they cancel the order... they'll have to pay a huge compensation fee!

Ruined!
No, calm down, you must calm down. The Huaxin 2 chip is advanced; it shouldn't be used in game consoles! This creates a competitive advantage through differentiation…

"All the games that can be played on the Huaxin game console can be played on our computers. And games that can't be played on the Huaxin game console can still be played on our computers. The relevant departments are already developing new games, which will completely eliminate those monotonous scrolling games..."

Hiroshi Yamauchi's face turned completely pale.

The groundbreaking nature of Huaxin 2 is even greater than that of Loongson 2. Before it, there were no professional computer graphics cards or professional computer games!
A new era has been ushered in by the East! The path is completely new; the East is the standard setter, and others can only follow behind and catch up, never able to surpass it!
"Finally, we'll announce the price!"

Qin Liang came on stage at the last minute, holding Loongson in his left hand and Huaxin in his right.

"We will still sell the Loongson 2 at $360 each, the Loongson 1 at $200, and the Huaxin 2 at $360!"

Intel's 386 processor has the same performance as the Loongson One and was planned to be priced at $360. Now, the Loongson One has been priced at $200, so the 386 processor will definitely not sell!
Across the ocean, Intel Corporation.

"Damn it, these damned Easterners, they're not leaving us any way to survive!"

At the same price, computer companies will definitely buy the Loongson 2 without hesitation! The 386 processor can only be cheaper, but... if it's reduced to $200, how can it make a profit? The huge R&D costs can't even be recovered, let alone the possibility of selling it even with a price reduction!
"Grove, Grove!" Just then, Moore rushed in.

"what happened?"

"We conducted tests on the first batch of 386 processors and discovered... a problem with floating-point operations; it would fail approximately once every ten thousand calculations..."

The consequences of rushing the work are already showing!

They directly integrated the coprocessor without doing much testing, and they didn't have time to do so, and then... a design flaw occurred.

Even if it makes a mistake just once out of ten thousand calculations, this processor is simply unsellable. Customers will make incorrect calculations and file claims! And if airports or similar departments use it, it could cause flight delays or even collisions…

"Why aren't you making changes yet?"

"The engineers are all on holiday. Even if we need to make changes, it will cost a lot of money..."

Grove plopped back into his chair. Seeking sponsorship again was impossible. With news of Dongfang Longxin and Huaxin's collapse, Intel's stock price would plummet, and the company would go bankrupt...

(End of this chapter)