March 11, 1997 6:15 PM ET
Independent Web page posts Pentium II benchmarks; Intel says numbers are bogus
By Scott Berinato

Early performance numbers for Intel Corp.'s forthcoming Pentium II processor were posted on an independent Web site today. Thomas Pabst, Webmaster of Tom's Hardware Page (www.sysdoc.pair.com), has tested the chip, formerly known as Klamath, and posted results on the Web page. The benchmarks listed on the home page, (www.isys.net/~thorsten.krueger/fraggle/klamath.html) both Intel's own and Winstone, show little performance improvement over previous Pentiums for graphics and multimedia applications. However, the Pentium II should boost business applications' performance. After being made aware of the site, Intel endeavored to close it down. Intel, which has not released any benchmark tests on the processor, is expected to give the first public demonstration of the chip on Wednesday at the CeBIT trade show in Hannover, Germany. However, the information was still up on the page as of this posting. Sources said Intel tried to prevent further publication of the performance tests, although details about the extent to which Intel pushed were not available. To keep the data up, Pabst mirrored his home page in Germany, according to sources. "We didn't contact Tom. We don't intend to contact Tom. We wouldn't shut down his site even if we knew how. We're not focused on Tom,'' said Chuck Mulloy, an Intel spokesman in Santa Clara, Calif. Intel's main concern, Mulloy said, is that the processor tested is preliminary hardware. ``There are risks in benchmarking unannounced products, so you should put those results in context,'' he said. " 'It ain't the real deal,' as they say.'' Meanwhile, Pabst has been flooded with support from various factions on the Internet. A petition was started at a "Help Tom" page, www.geocities.com/SiliconValley/Park/9976/helptom.htm. Pentium II chips are slated to ship in May. Intel can be reached at www.intel.com. Copyright(c) 1997 Ziff-Davis Publishing Company. All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part in any form or medium without express written permission of Ziff-Davis Publishing Company is prohibited. PC Week and the PC Week logo are trademarks of Ziff-Davis Publishing Company. PC Week Online and the PC Week Online logo are trademarks of Ziff-Davis Publishing Company. Send mail to PC Week