Why did old computers used to have a 'turbo' button

[eLiu]

Well? I remember playing with this as a kid...

Question inspired by some of the new posts about how games are running too fast on Athlon X2 procs.

 

[Elcs]

I thought the Turbo button was to slow down the machine to run older programs that ran too fast on the newer processors at the time.

Before my time on PC's Im afraid. I was an Amiga-holic during that time.

 

[Gadzookie]

i think the turbo button actually did nothing lol i think it was just a fad there was a time when everything ended in " turbo "

 

[mdchesne]

the turbo button did an overclock on the cpu to get it to run at its normal speed.
otherwise it was underclocked

like an archaic version of Cool n' Quiet

http://www.pcguide.com/opt/opt/miscTurbo-c.html

 

[lxskllr]

It's there to make the cards fall slower when you win solitare. Much more satisfying.

 

[FlyingPenguin]

Well as an old fart who grew up with this...

The Turbo switch was used to underclock the CPU so that older apps that were CPU timing depended would run properly.

Older games in particular would have this problem, but even old business apps might use (for example) a simple loop counter to create a delay for scrolling text instead of using a clock timer. Use that app on a newer faster computer and the text may scroll to fast to read.

Once computers had more memory, clock based timing loops became the norm and you never see this problem anymore. You rarely saw a turbo switch after the x386 era.

 

[YOyoYOhowsDAjello]

Originally posted by: FlyingPenguin
Well as an old fart who grew up with this...

The Turbo switch was used to underclock the CPU so that older apps that were CPU timing depended would run properly.

Older games in particular would have this problem, but even old business apps might use (for example) a simple loop counter to create a delay for scrolling text instead of using a clock timer. Use that app on a newer faster computer and the text may scroll to fast to read.

Once computers had more memory, clock based timing loops became the norm and you never see this problem anymore. You rarely saw a turbo switch after the x386 era.

My turbo buttom made things run faster though...

mdchesne's explanation seems to match what was happening with my computer back then.

 

[0roo0roo]

stuck around for a while in cases because a turbo button looked neat. 99% of the time it wasn't even hooked up but the light would come on if u did toggle it on anyways. at cases with turbo stuck around for quite a long while.

 

[JBird7986]

I remember having the first family computer we owned armed with a turbo button. The little LCD readout read 99 when it was unpressed and 00 when it was pressed.

Specs (1994) :
100MHz Intel Pentium
16MB RAM
1.2GB HDD (C: )
4x TEAC CD-ROM (D: )
5.25" Floppy (B: )
3.5" Floppy (A: )

At the time, this was a computer powerful enough to "run a small country." The HDD was also the first to break the 1GB barrier.

 

[GTaudiophile]

Ah, brings back memories of my first PC (after having used Macs for 12 years).

Intel Pentium PRO 200Mhz
128MB SDRAM
4.0GB Harddrive
12x Mitsumi CD-ROM
1.44 Floppy
4MB S3 Virge videocard with 4MB VRAM
SoundBlaster AWE64 soundcard

Circa. 1996

 

[Rubycon]

No it did not o/c the cpu...

When turbo was engaged (default) the cpu ran at full (default) speed.

When the button was disengaged, the cpu ran at a fraction of its speed.

With the advent of the i486, it was quite popular as many programs (particularly games) ran completely dependant on cpu clock. If you were using one of these programs and found the action unacceptably fast, slowing a i486 DX/33 down to 8MHz made things more tolerable.

Sierra games come to mind.

 

[Ohji]

Wow. This thread brings back memories. Those old Sierra games (which I LOVED and sorely miss) often had sequences that were completely impossible if your computer was too fast. In one game (one of the QFG series, I think), you had to dodge arrows being shot at you from all sides as you traveled across the screen, and you had no chance if the CPU speed was too fast.

Despite the crappy graphics and MIDI sound, those were some of the best games I've ever played. Too bad the adventure genre has pretty much died...

 

[theMan]

yeah, i remember playing games, and when you pressed the turbo button, the game would speed up a ton.

 

[Maluno]

What years was this in? I don't remember a thing, but most likely cause I am too young...

 

[JimPhelpsMI]

Hi, Inexperienced BASIC programers wrote most of the games in the beginning. They used program loops for timers because they didn't know the correct way of using the Real Time Clock pulses. The only way to play some of this stuff on newer faster machines was to slow down the processor so that the game ran more like the correct speed. Just one of the possibilities. Jim

 

[ixelion]

You rarely saw a turbo switch after the x386 era.

Yeah, my first computer, a 386, also had a turbo button it was yellow with a little red LED display, when you pressed it it did nothing, at least i didnt notice i was only 9 though lol.

Case manufacturers should but it back, and make it so that when you press it, your FSB goes up 5% or something

 

[sharkeeper]

Case manufacturers should but it back, and make it so that when you press it, your FSB goes up 5% or something

In today's age it would be a toggle between quiet and full speed for 20 fans or so. <ricerspeak>if it sounds faster, it most likely is faster</ricerspeak>

 

[DaveSimmons]

Originally posted by: YOyoYOhowsDAjello

Originally posted by: FlyingPenguin
Well as an old fart who grew up with this...

The Turbo switch was used to underclock the CPU so that older apps that were CPU timing depended would run properly.

Older games in particular would have this problem, but even old business apps might use (for example) a simple loop counter to create a delay for scrolling text instead of using a clock timer. Use that app on a newer faster computer and the text may scroll to fast to read.

Once computers had more memory, clock based timing loops became the norm and you never see this problem anymore. You rarely saw a turbo switch after the x386 era.

My turbo buttom made things run faster though...

mdchesne's explanation seems to match what was happening with my computer back then.

It's true that enaged = normal speed, dis = underclocked, but the reason why is as FlyingPenguin said, program timing, not for quiet or cooling.

 

[mwmorph]

turbo was awesome. i had a lcd that chnged from 25 to 33mhz if you pressed it.

 

[Zepper]

Yeah, if the mobo was set up correctly, it should switch between 8 MHz and whatever the standard clock speed was 16/20/25/33 MHz. The diff between 25 and 33 wouldn't make much diff on those clock-dependant programs. A lot of system integrators just didn't want to mess with setting up those LCD displays properly so they would show what was actually happening. It was a forest of jumpers on a little card. And as someone mentioned above, many were never hooked to the mobo at all, but still changed the LED numbers when you pressed the button - quite sleazy.

.bh.

 

[eLiu]

Cool...thanks guys, I learned something today, lol.

 

[morkus64]

Wow, I feel old, even though I'm probably younger than all of you... My first computer was an old WANG with 8" floppy disks (a handmedown from my dad), then eventually he handed down a 286, then 386, then a 486... I remember playing on his old Pentium when he wasn't around and thinking how amaznig it was. I remember the 486 and the 386 having turbo buttons, but neither were connected to anything.

Man, i want that to be in the early 90's again... nothing like a good text adventure, followed by a bit of Commander Keen and checking my email on capaccess (it even had a little section to find an email penpal!)

 

[CrispyFried]

heh I remember programming the display to read out 80 instead of 66 when turbo was on. cheap bling, like adding a performance sticker on a junker car.. made it look like it was a screamer lol

 

[PrayForDeath]

Ohh, good old days. I remember playing Aladin on an old PC and having to use the turbo button to slow down the CPU in order to make it playable. And I used to love the Quest for Glory series; ahh, memories...

 

[wchou]

Originally posted by: Maluno
What years was this in? I don't remember a thing, but most likely cause I am too young...

88-92? bush 1 and the desert storm in iraq... an unnecessary war that has lead to instability in the middle east today... this is not fate rather it was artificially created to bring us all to world war 3.