Four Companies Announce New, Simplified Method For Consumers To Measure Microprocessor Performance In PCs.RICHARDSON, Tex.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Feb. 5, 1996--Advanced Micro Devices, Cyrix, IBM (International Business Machines Corporation, Armonk, NY, www.ibm.com) The world's largest computer company. IBM's product lines include the S/390 mainframes (zSeries), AS/400 midrange business systems (iSeries), RS/6000 workstations and servers (pSeries), Intel-based servers (xSeries) and SGS-THOMSON Microelectronics today announced a new method for consumers to make PC buying decisions. This method indicates how fast a computer actually performs common tasks, regardless of the microprocessor's clock speed, or megahertz One million cycles per second. See MHz. MegaHertz - (MHz) Millions of cycles per second. The unit of frequency used to measure the clock rate of modern digital logic, including microprocessors. (MHz (MegaHertZ) One million cycles per second. It is used to measure the transmission speed of electronic devices, including channels, buses and the computer's internal clock. A one-megahertz clock (1 MHz) means some number of bits (16, 32, 64, etc. ). The four companies call the measurement a P-rating, or performance rating, and are offering it as an alternative way to describe processor performance, instead of the megahertz clock speed measurement now used. The companies say that if consumers buy computers based solely on processor clock speed, they are not necessarily getting an accurate picture of how well the systems will perform real computer tasks. Using an automobile as an example, a driver will frequently look at a car's speedometer speedometer, instrument that indicates speed. A cable from an automotive speedometer is attached to the rear of the transmission of an automobile; the cable turns at a rate proportional to the speed of the car. to see how fast the car is traveling. The dial on the dashboard that attracts less attention is labeled "RPM," or revolutions per minute, to indicate how fast the automobile's engine is operating. According to according to prep. 1. As stated or indicated by; on the authority of: according to historians. 2. In keeping with: according to instructions. 3. the P-rating developers, "MHz" resembles the RPM measurement, while computer users, like car drivers, are more interested in how fast their software applications are actually running. The P-rating indicates this performance level. The P-rating measurement is based on the industry-standard Ziff-Davis Winstone 96 benchmark test, which is a group of 13 common applications that PC users frequently use, such as Microsoft Word A full-featured word processing program for Windows and the Macintosh from Microsoft. Included in the Microsoft application suite, it is a sophisticated program with rudimentary desktop publishing capabilities that has become the most widely used word processing application on the market. and Excel. This test is run on a standardized computer configuration, so that all the results can be compared "apples-to-apples." AMD (Advanced Micro Devices, Inc., Sunnyvale, CA, www.amd.com) A major manufacturer of semiconductor devices including x86-compatible CPUs, embedded processors, flash memories, programmable logic devices and networking chips. , Cyrix, IBM and SGS-THOMSON sell x86 processors that compete with Intel's processors. The new P-rating evaluation system indicates how such processors perform when compared with Intel Pentium processors. For example, under the P-rating system announced today, a processor that delivers performance comparable to a 150 MHz Pentium processor is described as having a P150 rating, regardless of its own internal clock speed. "I expect the new P-rating to achieve broad industry acceptance because it is the first comprehensive and credible method for comparing competing processors based on the relative performance they bring PC users under real-world conditions," said Michael Slater Michael Jonathon Slater (born February 21, 1970, Wagga Wagga, New South Wales) is a former Australian cricketer who played in 74 Tests and 42 ODIs from 1993 to 2001.[1] , president of MicroDesign Resources of Sebastopol, Calif., and publisher of Microprocessor Report. "The P-rating standardizes test system configurations based on commercially available components, and it uses Winstone 96, the most widely recognized and used benchmarking test." -0- Note to Editors: All brand or product names are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective holders. The companies' joint specification, titled "Processor Performance Rating (P-Rating) Specification," Release 1.0, can be obtained from the web sites of the announcing companies. CONTACT: Cyrix Corporation, Richardson Michelle Moody, 214/968-8302 or Advanced Micro Devices David Frink, 512/602-4360 or IBM Microelectronics Kathleen Ryan Kathleen Ryan (8 September 1922-11 December 1985) was an Irish actress. She was born in Dublin, Ireland of Tipperary parentage and was a spirited and heart warming Irish actress who appeared in English and Hollywood movies between 1947 and 1957. , 914/892-5582 or SGS-THOMSON Microelectronics J.P. Rossomme, 617/259-2534 |
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