Dell 8500 manual 182, What are Errata?

w w w . d e l l . c o m s u p p o r t . d e l l . c o m

Intel Pentium® and Celeron® Processors are backed by a three-year limited warranty.

Please refer to the reverse side of this card for complete warranty details.

Intel’s Commitment to Quality

Intel is committed to producing the highest quality processors available. That’s why we have hundreds of people dedicated to continuously improve our design, manufacturing, and testing technology.

We put every one of our Pentium® and Celeron® processors through a rigorous battery of tests during the design and manufacturing processes.

To verify that the new chip will correctly run the software written for Intel Architecture processors, a team of Intel engineers is dedicated to compatibility testing. In a state-of-art lab, this group runs an extensive set of operating systems, applications, network tests and stress tests repeatedly to ensure that the processor is compatible with representative software.

Just as importantly, we work with hardware and software companies in the computer industry to ensure that our processors are compatible with their products.

Additionally, a sampling of Intel processors are subjected to a rigorous "burn-in" test whereby the chip is operated at higher-than-normal temperatures and voltages. During this burn-in period, the processor experiences the equivalent of weeks of normal usage. These units are monitored for failures as part of our ongoing quality assurance process.

As a result, today’s microprocessors from Intel are among the most reliable components in computers.

What are "Errata"?

Exhaustive product testing can highlight differences between the actual behavior of the microprocessor and its specifications. Sometimes the discrepancies are caused by a design defect or error, which we call errata. Rigorous validation identifies most errata during the development of the processor, but we do detect additional errata during the life cycle of a microprocessor.

When an erratum is identified, our engineers work to characterize it and find a solution. We work with system designers and software developers to ensure that the discrepancy does not affect their products. If necessary, special software or hardware solutions (sometimes known as "work arounds") are implemented in the system design to prevent computer users from encountering the problem. Errata may then be corrected in future revisions of the microprocessor.

No microprocessor is perfect, and Intel recognizes that some consumers want to know about any errata, whether or not the errata affect them. Intel makes documentation of all characterized Pentium and Celeron processor errata publicly available through our Technical Documentation Service.

At Intel, our goal is to make every computer user satisfied with his or her Pentium or Celeron processor. Should you have any questions, comments or concerns about your Intel microprocessor, please call us at 1-800-628-8686.

©1997, 1998 Intel Corporation. All rights reserved.

182

Appendix