State of the Intel Address

What’s up with the chip whizzes at Intel?

• Read on and find out!

by: Doc Mechail

Just back from the Westin Hotel at the Ren Cen, rubbing elbows with some of Intel Corporation’s top people and getting the low-down on what’s new, what we can expect to see in the next few months, and -- even more important; what we can get our hands on now!)

MMX, MMX, and MMX!!! That’s just what the Doctor ordered according to Intel. And that’s no placebo. Most modern programs and applications, from word processors to spreadsheets to games, they are all growing -- packed with eye and ear candy. MMX is designed for multimedia --with an instruction set boosted by 57 commands to speed the work of programs written to use it, MMX-optimized applications will amaze you. .

The Pentium with MMX also has an L1 cache TWICE as large as that of a standard Pentium! The L1 cache is built right on the CPU and helps hold data ready for the processor, making sure the computer has the data it needs ready to be processed as soon as it finishes the current process. This tends to lead to a performance increase averaging 10-20% even with the software you use everyday. What’s that you say, "Great, I’m going to rush right out and buy an MMX processor to upgrade my motherboard right now!" Hold on a second Sparky, I need to tell you a little bit more about MMX, and one of its special requirements.

You see, MMX makes things work faster, so to help prevent the potential heat increase the faster work would generate, Intel set up the MMX to require two different voltage levels, one that would control the core of the chip, the processing components, and one to the rest of the chip, the part that handles the input/output of data and the clock. If you don’t have a motherboard that supports these dual voltage settings, you will void your warranty AND risk permanent damage to your MMX CPU! But don’t despair, Intel knows not everyone can afford to throw out their old equipment, so they have produced the Pentium MMX Over Drive! Current versions of the MMX Over Drive replace 75, 90, and 100 Mhz Pentiums and make them 125, 150, and 166 MMX Pentiums respectively! With more, faster upgrades in the works!

Hint

When you have any questions about what the right processor is for you -- or if you’d like us to take on the headache of getting your system MMX ready-- give us a call at 586-415-5555 or 800-858-8448.

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