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Technology Stocks : Intel Corporation (INTC) -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Paul Engel who wrote (76341)	3/15/1999 2:52:00 AM
From: Paul Engel	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 186894

Intel Investors - Here's another Bomb with a Short fuse for McMannis, the Privacy Clowns, and the OVERCLOCKERS to HOWL about ! Intel must be embedding CPU speed codes into the Pentium III and they are distributing a tool for measuring actual clock speed and the INTENDED clock speed for Pentium III and Pentium III Xeon CPUs. Let the howling begin. Paul {======================} techweb.com March 15, 1999, Issue: 833 Section: News Software Tool To Check Processor Speeds -- Intel fights counterfeit chips Marcia Savage Santa Clara, Calif. -- Intel Corp. is launching a new weapon in the war against remarking of its CPUs. The software tool, called the Intel Processor Frequency Utility ID, gives VARs and end users a way to detect whether their processors are the real thing or have been fraudulently remarked to represent something other than they were intended. "The utility we're rolling out becomes a whole new level of protection that previously wasn't available," said Craig Johnson, a member of an Intel task force working to combat remarking. Remarking is the illegal modification of Intel trademarks and chip identification, such as a 333MHz Pentium II remarked as 400MHz. "If the end user or integrator can identify it, then it becomes a much more difficult crime to perpetrate," Johnson said. The utility is available for download from Intel's Web site at support.intel.com/support/processors/tools/frequencyid/. In less than 30 seconds, the tool shows how fast a processor is running and how fast it was designed to run. If a disparity occurs, it alerts the user. The tool works with Pentium III and Pentium III Xeon chips, and Intel said it also will support future processors. Johnson emphasized that the utility is not related to the processor serial number. "Remarking is a crime, it's fraud, and it's harmful-not only to Intel, but primarily to people who purchase something and didn't get what they paid for," Johnson said. "It hurts the integrator who's trying to run an honest business." Overclocking, although not illegal, often goes hand-in-hand with remarking, Johnson said. Intel advises against overclocking because it can cause the CPU to malfunction, he said. "I think this utility is definitely something that would be popular," said Eric Haldane, manager at Haldane Computer Centers Inc., a Folsom, Calif.-based system integrator. "I think it would make a dent in the problem that the industry has with this." While Haldane said he is careful to buy from a dealer he trusts, "I'm constantly called by other dealers trying to get me a better price on this or that, and I'm sure a majority are legitimate, but I know there are a percentage that aren't 100 percent legitimate, and to me it's just not worth it," he said. Remarking is not much of a problem with boxed processors, Haldane said. OEM products, which are less expensive and more often used by system integrators, carry a greater risk of remarking, he said. Remarking has been an industry problem since the 1970s, when remarkers used paint and stickers, Intel's Johnson said. Their methods have become more sophisticated, including tampering with the processor's signals. Remarking is not a huge problem, but the broad nature of the industry presents lots of opportunities for remarkers to insert counterfeit products into the market, Intel executives said. The Santa Clara-based company works with law-enforcement officials to combat remarking. "We don't think it's a pervasive sort of problem," Johnson said. "But it's hard to say it's not a serious problem if you're a person who bought a system that crashes every 10 minutes because it turns out the processor was remarked." In addition to the software tool, Intel's efforts against remarking include incorporating more effective overclocking deterrents into chip designs. And the chip maker broadened its training of law enforcement officers. "Remarking in the next year is going to be significantly more difficult than a year ago," Johnson said. --- Seeking new protection: - Tool works with with the latest Pentium III chips. - It takes 30 seconds to check the speed of chips. Copyright ® 1999 CMP Media Inc.