By Robert Churchwell Copy Editor aybe you've seen Intel's commercials for their new MMX-enhanced processor. Yes, the one with the funky scientists putting a little fun into the chips. Technically, the MMX chip is a normal Intel Pentium or Pentium Pro processor with 57 of the most commonly used instructions involved with multimedia hardwired into the chip. The idea being that this speeds everything up because the commands run through the processor faster, unimpeded by the limitations of non-MMX processors.
All indications seem to say that it works rather well, actually.
For instance, in a 3D game such as Quake or Duke Nukem 3D, the most important aspect of the game is basically its frame rate, or how fast the screen refreshes in its given resolution. The difference is noticable. With the MMX chip, programs were able to run with frame rates three times higher than without it, with the ratio increasing at higher resolutions. This means that the MMX chip's improvements become even more noticable at harder tasks. Other games also benefit from these enhancements.