Chapter 324

Inside the laboratory.

"We have built an experimental platform based on Loongson's introduction; first we will test its clock speed," Moore said, flipping the switch.

"6 megahertz, the processor works normally, with no issues in computation!"

This first test result left everyone silent; the Easterners were indeed not lying—their processor's initial frequency already matched that of the 8086, but as a 16‑bit processor, its computing power is several times higher than the 8086's!

So, the 8086 is probably going to be hard to sell from now on!

"Adjust the external frequency, try going up to 8 megahertz!" Moore reached out and flipped the jumper cap, changing the external frequency.

At this time there was no concept of frequency multiplication; the external main line's speed determined how fast the processor's internal operations ran.

"8 megahertz, no problem at all!"

"10 megahertz!"

"12 megahertz!"

Already overclocked by a factor of two, this processor is still working normally!

Geluofu touched the processor's ceramic casing with trembling hand—it was only slightly warm! So… we can still keep overclocking!

"14 megahertz! Working normally!"

"16 megahertz! I think we should add a fan on top!"

At 20 megahertz, the processor is still running normally!

Watching the fan whirring away, everyone fell silent.

This is definitely not a specially made batch for the Easterners; it's a unit obtained from the first shipment through special means—a mass‑produced model from the production line—and yet this processor can reach 20 megahertz!

"According to our 286 processor development plan, the initial clock speed was only 6 megahertz, later slowly rising to 20 megahertz; now the Easterners' first‑batch processors have already reached 20 megahertz, so later versions might even double that!"

This… we simply can't catch up!

Everyone fell into despair!

Geluofu gritted his teeth: "Hmph, even if their processors are advanced, the West won't just adopt them outright—so far only Nintendo has bought Loongson chips, and only for game consoles. So we don't need to worry about Loongson competition; we just need to rush out our 286 processors. Can we already tape out?"

"Yes."

"Then let's tape out; as soon as we produce the first 286 chip, we'll officially release it!"

"Geluofu, we haven't done strict testing—what if there's a problem?" Moore grew nervous.

"No way—Intel has never made a mistake!"

Moore still felt some worry in his heart, but now there really was no other way; the market was watching, and if they couldn't quickly release the 286, computer manufacturers might have to choose Dragon Core!

In 1982, January 17, the northern Little New Year.

Crackling firecracker sounds rang out, filling everywhere with the atmosphere of the New Year.

Middle Pass Village, a small building.

"Construction won't start until next year, so for now we can only temporarily stay here." Qin Miao said: "The conditions are a bit harsh, everyone……"

"We're not afraid of harsh conditions; as long as we can start R&D quickly, that's fine." Chen Wen's words weren't finished yet when the sound of a car was heard from below.

"San Shui, San Shui, the computer has arrived!"

"The people who eat have arrived!"

Everyone went downstairs and saw workers beginning to move the computers in at the door; this speed is not ordinarily fast!

"Come, make way, make way!"

"San Shui, come, let me introduce you: this is the person in charge of Qinghua Daxue's school-run factory, Lao Wang!" Professor Xu said with a happy laugh.

Wang Jia Hua beamed with excitement: "After we get the first batch of Dragon Core processors, we'll start assembling computers; this will definitely be the nation's first batch of Dragon Core computers, but we never dreamed that you, Ha Gong Da, would actually be our first customer, hahaha!"

Qinghua Daxue being able to produce the first batch of Dragon Core computers also has its reasons.

In 1958, under the policy of combining education and productive labor at the time, Qinghua Daxue set up a workshop for the Department of Automatic Control, later absorbing worker masters and demobilized military personnel transferred to civilian jobs, forming a scale of over 150 people.

By 1961, they began producing the 555-type analog computer and the 911 electronic computer; entering the 1970s, it was the 724 integrated circuit digital computer; in the early 1980s, furthermore, based on the imported American Cromemco microcomputer prototype, the factory began assembling and producing the DJS-040 microcomputer, which was at the domestic leading level.

So, once they had the Dragon Core in hand, they adjusted according to Dragon Core's needs and thus developed the Dragon Core computer!

"Factory Director Wang, thank you for your strong support!"

"Now that we have the Dragon Core, computers could originally be produced at your Ha Gong Da, but you gave this big cake to other domestic companies; hum, besides the Computing Institute that wants something for nothing, which other unit doesn't miss your Ha Gong Da's goodness?"

Wang Jia Hua said with a smile: "Qinghua Daxue still hopes to hitch a ride on your Ha Gong Da to continue developing! Right, we also found over twenty students from the Computer Science Department; starting today, we'll begin work. During this New Year period, out-of-town students are hard to find, so we can only look within the Capital and its surroundings; after next semester starts, we'll gather over a hundred people to come over!"

"Quick, quick, assemble the computer!" Chen Wen couldn't wait any longer.

As soon as the first computer was assembled, he turned on the power, waited a few seconds, and the command prompt appeared.

"The startup speed is this fast?"

In this era, it's quite normal for a computer to take half a minute or even a minute to start up!

He sighed while beginning to tap the keyboard with a crackling sound.

Qin Miao went over and took a glance: "Gauss-Legendre algorithm, calculating pi?"

"Hmm, I'll write a piece of software to test this computer's performance..."

In later times, computer performance doesn't need testing; it's surely sufficient, but in the 80s and 90s, when hardware performance was lacking, how good a computer's hardware performance was became very important.

How to test computer hardware? Thus many programs were invented, especially a "super" program that became popular; this thing is used to calculate pi, belonging to the most CPU‑consuming programs, and by calculating a few hundred thousand digits, one can check the computer's performance.

While speaking, the similar software was written, debugged, passed on the first try with no errors! Next came execution; Chen Wen thought for a moment, entered the command line, and calculated a thousand digits!

"Enter!"

Watching the numbers begin to jump on the screen, Chen Wen planned to stand up to get a cup of water, but when he left his seat and turned his head, the calculation result was already out!

This…… this is way too fast, right? Even an 8086 needs thirty seconds to calculate a thousand digits!

All right, more—ten thousand digits!

He entered the command again, pressed Enter, he turned to pick up his water cup; as he raised his head to drink, he glanced at the screen interface—had it finished again?

This time…… definitely not thirty seconds! For the 8086 to calculate these data, at least five minutes are needed!

Awesome, awesome, the computing speed of this Dragon Core No. 1 is at least ten times that of the 8086!

Beside him, Wang Jiahuá smiled and said: "We've only increased it to 10 megahertz; actually, with a heatsink, 20 megahertz is no problem, and the computing speed could double again!"

Great, great! With this computer, we'll design circuits much faster! By the way, do we have the matching circuit diagram design software?