TECHNOLOGY : Study Finds Both IBM, Intel Off on Error Rate

Flaws in Intel’s Pentium chip will produce fewer computer errors than suggested by IBM but substantially more errors than Intel has claimed, according to technical tests conducted by PC Week, a major industry publication.

In a separate report, the Gartner Group, a research firm that advises large corporations on computer use, has recommended that its customers delay purchases of Pentium computers until there are assurances from Intel that the machines are bug-free.

The PC Week tests, which will be published in Monday’s issue of the magazine, conclude that people who frequently use a computer to do calculations that involve dividing large numbers could come across errors as often as once every 44 days. Intel calculated the error rate at once in 27,000 years while IBM--which on Monday stopped shipping Pentium-based machines--suggested it could come as often as once in 24 days.

“Engineers and scientists will probably find the level of possible errors unacceptable, as will most people using a spreadsheet for complex financial calculations,” said Peter Coffee, advanced-technologies analyst for PC Week.

Although Intel now says it will offer a replacement chip for anyone with a defective Pentium, the company continues to insist that replacement of the chip would be an unwise move for the vast majority of Pentium owners.

“We are replacing chips based on concern, not on technical need,” said Howard High, an Intel spokesman. High said the company is trying to explain to customers who demand replacements that the probability of computer errors cropping up as a consequence of the action of opening up the computer and replacing the chip are greater than the danger of an error from the flawed chip.