Two Stop Bits

In 1998, Italian engineer Marcello Console founded Genesys in Monopoli, Italy, producing modified Intel Pentium II 'Deschutes' processors sold under the 'B52 MMX' brand. Genesys purchased lower-frequency Pentium II 300MHz chips, replaced the cartridge housing, swapped in NEC BSRAM cache chips, and raised the FSB from 66MHz to 100MHz — effectively overclocking them to 450MHz while selling them at ~25% below Intel's retail price with a 3-year warranty. Benchmarks showed the B52 MMX actually outperformed the stock Intel Pentium II 450MHz by roughly 5-9% in cache throughput and CPU mark tests, partly due to custom BIOS modifications Genesys provided for compatible motherboards. Intel sued Genesys three times in Italian courts between 1998 and 1999. Genesys won on the merits each time — courts found the modifications legal — but Intel successfully banned the 'MMX' trademark usage. The prolonged legal battle ultimately exhausted the small 10-person company. Only about 150 processors were ever sold, making surviving units extremely rare collector items today.

Forgotten Italian CPU – The Genesys B52 MMX