Those oft-criticized folks over at the German site Tom's Hardware Guide (nein!) have come up with a Need-to-know 802.11g article. It's a two-parter, and you can get Part 2 here. I guess you could call it an epoxy article. Think about it. Next on the agenda, remember back in the day when we first learned that P4s all have internal thermal sensors and how they can slow the clock down greatly in the event of catastrophic HSF failure? Well, if not, review this video from THG (and counterpoints from AMD and VIA)–it shows how things are. And if you want to learn more about the effect of said slowdown, visit XBitLabs.com and read about the Influence of Intel Pentium 4 Core Temperature on CPU Performance. Ever wanted your friends to see what your PC had in it without asking or popping off the case? Well, now you can. Check out transparent cases. Back in 1995, Intel filed a patent which has given some recent hobbyists something to chew on. In it, Intel outlines how a type of on-chip non-volatile memory could be utilized and programmed from the factory regarding its physical setup. It is coming to pass that this type of configuration is what makes the chip appear to be “locked” at a certain speed or configured a certain way from the factory. The human mind, being what it is–genuinely inquisitive by nature–started thinking: Does it really make sense to have several different chips locked in some hard way from the factory? Or does it make sense to have one chip design which can be soft-configured post-fabrication? Such a design could be configured to meet whatever configurations are required for market demand, right? The answer: it appears that the latter is true. Intel is making a single die which is then converted into one of the many speed grades and product lines they offer. Sometimes this appears to be due to necessity (such as the chip physically not clocking high enough, or part of the chip being damaged so HT is disabled, for example). But in other circumstances it is simply done to address the needy market. There have been several articles about this lately scattered across the Web, and I've dabbled in understanding the theory. It's most interesting, and you can start by reading more at The Inquirer.
USER COMMENTS 68 comment(s)
|Groovy… (9:21am EST Wed Mar 19 2003)
…Someone figure out how to make a utility to flash the processor and bada-bing! Intel brings out the DMCA against it. I could almost bet money on that one. – by Ziwiwiwiwiwiwiwiwiwi
|Dead link Rick… (10:16am EST Wed Mar 19 2003)
The link entitled, “Influence of Intel Pentium 4 Core Temperature on CPU Performance,” is a dead link. C'mon Rick, I want to read that article – you've got me hungry! – by Sigma Support
|live link (10:23am EST Wed Mar 19 2003)
– by link-meister!
|Hey!!! (12:17pm EST Wed Mar 19 2003)
Thats my case. I bought it 3 months ago. Really cool. Ive got lights all over it. – by Dave the Hard Cheese
|Try This Ziwiwiwiwi: (8:57am EST Thu Mar 20 2003)
– by Slicer