Many personal computer makers this week will roll out flashy multimedia PCs designed around a new chip by Intel Corp. -- a development that is expected to give the consumer sector of the industry a much-needed boost. 
Intel will officially launch its much-anticipated P55C microprocessor using its so-called MMX (multimedia extension) technology Wednesday and a slew of companies will unveil new consumer PCs, notebooks and desktops using the new chip, which will offer much faster performance. 
The company said the new chip will offer more than just faster speeds on the new PCs, but a spokesman declined to give any further details. 
"Instead of just raw performance ... you get a richer experience," said an Intel spokesman in Santa Clara, Calif.
International Business Machines Corp., Compaq Computer Corp., Dell Computer Corp., Gateway 2000 Inc., Toshiba America Corp., Sony Corp. and many other firms are expected to unveil new high-end PCs simultaneously with Intel's announcment. 
Most machines are expected to be priced over $3,000. 
Intel said that an MMX-based PC would be more like a television, with sharper images, three-dimensional graphics, faster audio and television-like video.  Other benefits include faster video teleconferencing and Internet access. 
"As more and more people use PCs, the expectations are higher and higher, from what they see in movies and television," the Intel spokesman said. 
"This moves the PC platform a little further along to media-rich applications.  Our goal is to surpass the TV in terms of audio and video." 
For example, he said, a user playing a video game on an MMX-based PC will feel as if he or she is in a video arcade. 
"It's a tremendous kickoff to 1997," said Rod Schrock, a vice president of Compaq's Presario division. 
"We are so excited about the new MMX processor that we redesigned the entire line of Presarios from the ground up.  Customers are going to get a pretty dazzling experience." 
Schrock declined to give any product specifics, but he said that Compaq will launch its new Presario consumer PCs with MMX in the same timeframe as Intel's announcement. 
"It should provide an added boost to the demand for the new generation of PCs," Schrock added. " There was no major industry event in 1996, this year you have a new processor."