Intel Developer Forum When the Merced, with 4Mb of on die cache, and at speeds of 750MHz on a .18 micron process, and a set of slightly different Screaming Cindy extensions, starts to appear in volume next year, it could be the perfect gamer's machine. The microprocessor is being positioned as a heavyweight beast for the corporate server marketplace, but with tweaking could run the fastest Quake on the planet, it has emerged. Although Intel is still publicly denying that it will eventually replace the IA32 platform, it's likely that clever mobo manufacturers may turn out models to do the business for the lucrative games market. High-end gamers are undeterred by the high price such a machine would attract, as long as it could pound the opposition into the ground. And Intel might end up selling more Merceds than it thought it might, once the games companies wrote the right code for the 64-bit chip. Intel is expected to start production of Merced at a modest 750MHz or so, but will rapidly increase speeds on the platform. It's just a thought, OK? ® Full IDF Summer 99 coverage