In The Fast Lane

In the August 1987 "Reader's Feedback" column, a reader wanted to make a Commodore 64 run faster. I sometimes want to make my AT&T PC-6300 run slower. I have several games that were written for the standard-speed IBM PC that run too fast on my computer. I would like to be able to select a slower speed for the games and a faster one for other software. How do I do this?

Irvin E. Poston

The IBM PC uses an Intel 8088 microprocessor running at 4.77 MHz. Your AT&T PC-6300 uses an Intel 8086 microprocessor running at 8 MHz. The 8086 is a true 16-bit processor, and in your case it is running at almost twice the speed of the IBM's, so your games will definitely play faster. Unfortunately, there's no way to switch your processor to a slower speed. Some other clones have a hardware or software switch to select the original 4.77 MHz speed, but AT&T intended their PC-6300 to be used as a business machine, and in that environment, "the more speed, the better" is usually the rule.