You can check which modem you have by opening the GM56PCI-SM Control Panel application
(Start->Settings->Control Panel, then double click on the GM56PCI-SM Modem icon). On the
applications' main window the product name of your installed modem is displayed.
3
Personal Computer Requirements
This section outlines minimum system requirements for GM56PCI-SM operation. On these
systems, CPU loading was found to be acceptable and the modem demonstrated good performance
over the entire network model.
Important: GM56PCI-SM operation is not limited to the personal computer systems listed here.
Recommended CPUs
The GM56PCI-SM modem has been qualified on the following processors:
•
Intel Pentium, 150MHz with MMX, 256K Level 2 (L2) cache minimum
•
Intel Pentium, 200MHz, 256K L2 cache minimum
•
Intel Pentium II
•
Intel Pentium Pro
•
Intel Celeron (Pentium II, 266MHz, no L2 cache)
•
AMD K6-2 with 3DNow!, 256K L2 cache
The GM56PCI-SM functions satisfactorily on the following systems. However, it has not been
fully qualified (it was not tested for processor loading or TSB performance):
•
AMD K6, 233 MHz, 256K L2 cache
•
Cyrix MII, 266MHz, 256K L2 cache
The GM56PCI-SM does not function on the following CPUs, whose floating-point performance is
insufficient:
•
Cyrix MediaGX
•
Cyrix MediaGXM
•
Cyrix 6x86
Level 2 Cache Benefits
Level 2 (L2) cache is an instruction memory (SRAM) bank that resides outside the CPU core. It
holds many instructions close to the CPU, to reduce the need for the processor to use slow access
cycles fetching instructions from main memory (DRAM). Eliminating most CPU accesses to main
memory considerably improves overall system performance.
The GM56PCI-SM modem works best when a minimum of 256K L2 Cache is installed on the
computer system motherboard to minimize processor loading. Intel's Celeron (266MHz PII)
systems do not have L2 cache. Although the GM56PCI-SM operates on those systems, host
processor loading increases in the absence of L2 cache.