Pentium Problems

By Aaron Price, Documentation Services Assistant (price@cc1.unt.edu)

Intel rocked the computer industry with the announcement of a flaw in their most popular computer chip, the Pentium Processor in late 1994. Soon after, on December 12, IBM, the world s largest computer maker, decided to halt all shipments of computers that contain the flawed Pentium chip.

Intel vs IBM

Intel s position has been that on an average MSDOS, Windows, or OS/2 based computer the flaw would manifest itself once in 27,000 years. They added, however, for computers that are running programs heavy in mathematics the flaw would indeed be noticeable and the chips in those computers would be replaced by Intel.

On the other hand, IBM is maintaining that the probability of an average user to encounter an error is once in every 24 days. IBM continues to defend their decision by saying that there are millions of Pentium users worldwide. So a large number of users are encountering errors in their operations every day.

What is the problem?

On November 30, Intel released a scientific document that explained the flaw in the chip. The Pentium achieves its high speed by using new technology in many areas of the chip. One of those area is the floating point processor. It is this processor that is faulted.

When a certain combination of digits are divided by each other then the resulting answer comes up flawed. The error would occur in the fifth or higher significant digit that is being processed. The result could be unnoticeable or catastrophic, depending on the program being run.

What does this mean to me?

Maybe nothing. In fact, many applications do not use floating point algorithms at all. The chance on your program being effected depends directly on the dependance the program has on mathematics. For example, database and file servers probably will never encounter this error. Spreadsheets and other low intensive math programs may encounter the error, but not very often (Depending on whether you believe Intel or IBM). You will have a significant chance of encountering the error if you are running math intensive software such as fractal programs, scientific programs, etc.

How can I fix it?

Intel has set up a hotline to answer questions and negotiate a replacement procedure if one is needed. After intense public pressure Intel has agreed to replace all Pentium chips free of charge. All you have to do is supply them with the defective chip. If you feel you may have a problem or if you just want more answers call toll free 1-800-628-8686.

If you have a UNT PC with a Pentium chip in it, you will be contacted by the Microcomputer Maintenance Shop so that they can replace the chip.

You can access official press releases and technical information about the problem from Intel s World Wide Web server at URL: http://www.intel.com/ Also, IBM s response can be accessed from their World Wide Web server at URL: http://www.ibm.com/

IBM just started shipping PCs with the Pentium chip in them again. Customers will have them replaced later, according to the company.

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