TechWhirl (TECHWR-L) is a resource for technical writing and technical communications professionals of all experience levels and in all industries to share their experiences and acquire information.
For two decades, technical communicators have turned to TechWhirl to ask and answer questions about the always-changing world of technical communications, such as tools, skills, career paths, methodologies, and emerging industries. The TechWhirl Archives and magazine, created for, by and about technical writers, offer a wealth of knowledge to everyone with an interest in any aspect of technical communications.
Subject:Re: The Pentium 90 Chip From:"Arlen P. Walker" <Arlen -dot- P -dot- Walker -at- JCI -dot- COM> Date:Thu, 1 Dec 1994 11:11:00 -0500
I ordered the Pentium even though there has been
much adverse publicity because a very knowledable friend of mine said
that the main problem Intel has is with the lower Pentiums, and there
haven't been problems with the 90s.
Just a few. Far as I can tell the FDIV bug affected all Pentiums, not just the
low speed ones. Also, InfoWorld just printed an article talking about
multiprocessing problems with the 90 and 100 MHz chips. That's all that's been
reported so far, anyway.
When you get it, open your spreadsheet and put 4195835 in cell A1, 3145727 in
cell A2, and the formula =A1 - (A1 / A2) * A2 in A3. If the answer isn't zero
(and I've yet to find a Pentium which gets anything other than 256) it's got the
divide problem. There are literally thousands of other numbers (I've heard a
case argued for 1.5 million, but 1738 is the most I've seen demonstrated) which
will produce this error, but these are the two we use.
Have fun,
Arlen
Chief Managing Director In Charge, Department of Redundancy Department
DNRC 24
Arlen -dot- P -dot- Walker -at- JCI -dot- Com
----------------------------------------------
In God we trust; all others must provide data.
----------------------------------------------
