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From: brian@umbc4.umbc.edu (Brian Cuthie)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.next
Subject: Re: Icecap for NeXT?
Message-ID: <1991Jun19.001942.23546@umbc3.umbc.edu>
Date: 19 Jun 91 00:19:42 GMT
References: <1386@exua.exeter.ac.uk>
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In article <1386@exua.exeter.ac.uk> SAMcinty@exua.exeter.ac.uk (Scott McIntyre) writes:
>
>According to the June Issue of BYTE, a German company by the name of
>I think Rehm has created a widget called the Icecap...essentially, it
>forces the processor to run faster by cooling it down.  It has amazing
>speed increases, such as a 50Mhz 486 up to 96Mhz and 225Mhz landmark,
>whatever that means.  They also mentioned that versions for 68030 and
>SPARCs are in the works...
> 
>Would one of these devices work on a station?  Would it be silly to
>consider?  Anyone have any idea what it is actually doing?
> 
>Scott


Actually, this is a device which *allows* a slower processor to be run at
a higher speed.  It's mere presence isn't enough to speed up your machine.

Additionally, the rest of the machine's architecture must support the
increased speed.  It's not clear whether the NeXTstation is processor
bound, or if it is actually made to only go at 25 Mhz.  In any case, 
you would need to change the clock, which, of course, is used for other
system timings as well, so everything would break.

Basically: this is a device for systems designers.  It is not really intended
for use as a retrofit.

-brian