IBM Unveils PCs With Much Speedier Chip

Seizing an important opportunity to differentiate its products from the pack of personal computer clones, International Business Machines Corp. on Tuesday introduced two new personal computers powered by an enhanced version of Intel Corp.’s 386SX chip.

IBM said the new Personal System/2 models--dubbed the 56 SLC and 57 SLC--are the fastest of their kind in the industry, able to zip through popular graphic-based programs up to 88% faster than competitors’ machines powered by similar chips.

The modified chip, developed under a contract with Intel Corp. that permits IBM to produce enhanced versions of the Intel 386 for its own machines, could give IBM a significant edge in the fiercely competitive PC market. IBM said it intends to provide an even faster version of the SLC chip on upgrade cards later this year.

IBM introduced its first machine using the SLC chip in the fall, but it was an expensive system specifically targeted at so-called multimedia applications. Analysts suggested that the new chip might be a significant advantage for IBM, but only if the company could use it in a broader range of lower-priced machines.

Peter Reilly, director of personal systems marketing at IBM, said Tuesday that IBM would roll out additional SLC machines as it ramped up production of the chip.

Key to the SLC advantage is IBM’s addition of an internal cache and an internal cache controller. The cache is a special bank of high-speed memory that holds instructions and data. It allows the microprocessor to operate without having to wait for code and data from the much lower-speed main memory. IBM will have to move quickly to capitalize on the 386 SLC, since many corporate computer buyers are moving to Intel’s more-powerful 486.