K6 redux - again

H. Peter Anvin (hpa@transmeta.com)
12 May 1997 17:01:38 GMT

I got a note from someone this morning asking if my redux of my K6
problem (a persistent problem with a new AMD K6-PR2/166 turned out to
be a faulty chip) was a recommendation to buy Intel. It wasn't meant
to be -- especially not considering the price difference -- but rather
to let people know that if they get the same errors, get a new chip.
(This person also pointed out that Intel have had periods when they've
had similar production problems. I suspect AMD will get this
straightened up soon enough.)

The problem was highly reproducible: boot the standard RedHat 4.1
floppy; it should crash well before giving you the install screen.

I suspect the high reported rate of overclockability of the K6 is
related to this phenomenon; it might indicate a wide spread of the
outgoing parts. Once I'm sufficiently convinced that my 166 chip runs
OK at that speed I might try overclocking it to see how it goes.

-hpa

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