Index
What is Pentium
Overview
What is Pentium
Overview
History
Pentium-branded
processors
P5
microarchitecture based
P6
microarchitecture based
Pentium Pro
Pentium II
Pentium III
Netburst
microarchitecture based
Pentium 4
Pentium D
Pentium M
microarchitecture based
Pentium M
Pentium
Dual-Core
Core
microarchitecture based
Pentium
Dual-Core
Pentium
(2009)
Nehalem
microarchitecture based
Sandy Bridge
microarchitecture based
Pentium
compatible Intel processors
Pentium is a brand used for a series of x86-compatible microprocessors produced by Intel. In its most current form, a Pentium processor is a consumer-level product with a two-star rating[1], above the low-end Atom and Celeron products but below the faster Core i3, i5 and i7 lines as well as the high-end Xeon processors.
The
name Pentium is originally derived from the Greek
word pente (Ï€Îντε),
meaning 'five' (as the series was Intel's 5th generation microarchitecture,
the P5), and the Latin ending -ium. The current Pentium processors only
share the name but are in fact based on the same processor chips that are used
in the Intel Core
but are typically used with a lower clock frequency,
a partially disabled L3 cache and some of the advanced features such
as Hyper-threading and Virtualization
disabled.
Produced From 1993 to current
Common
manufacturer(s) Intel
Max.
CPU clock rate
- 60 MHz to 3.8 GHz
FSB
speeds- 60 MHz
to 1333 MT/s
Min.
feature size - 0.8 µm to
32 nm
Cores 1-2
Predecessor Intel 80486
Socket(s) Various
Core name(s) Various
History
The original Pentium branded CPUs were expected to be named 586 or i586, to follow the naming convention of previous generations (286, i386, i486). However, as the company wanted to prevent their competitors from branding their processors with similar names, as AMD had done with their Am486, Intel attempted to file a trademark on the name in the United States, only to be denied because a series of numbers was not considered distinct.Following Intel's previous series of 8086, 80186, 80286, 80386, and 80486 microprocessors, the company's first P5-based microprocessor was released as the original Intel Pentium on March 22, 1993. Due to its success, the Pentium brand would continue through several generations of high-end processors beyond the original. In 2006, the Pentium brand briefly disappeared from Intel's roadmaps, only to re-emerge in 2007.
In 1998, Intel introduced the Celeron brand for low-priced microprocessors. With the 2006 introduction of the Intel Core brand as the company's new flagship line of processors, the Pentium series was to be discontinued. However, due to a demand for mid-range dual-core processors, the Pentium brand was re-purposed to be Intel's mid-range processor series, in between the Celeron and Core series, continuing with the Pentium Dual-Core line.
In 2009, the "Dual-Core" suffix was dropped, and new x86 microprocessors started carrying the plain Pentium name again
Overview
During development
Intel generally identifies processors with codenames,
such as Prescott, Willamette, Coppermine, Katmai, Klamath
or Deschutes. These usually become widely known, even after the
processors are given official names on launch.
Pentium-branded processors
P5 microarchitecture based
The
original Pentium
and Pentium MMX
processors were the superscalar follow-on to the 80486 processor and were
marketed from 1993 to 1999. Some versions of these were available as Pentium OverDrive
that would fit into older CPU sockets.
Pentium
P6 microarchitecture based
In
parallel with the P5 microarchitecture, Intel developed the P6
microarchitecture and started marketing it as the Pentium Pro
for the high-end market in 1995. It introduced out-of-order execution and an integrated second level cache
on dual-chip processor package. The second P6 generation replaced the original
P5 with the Pentium II and rebranded the high-end
version as Pentium II Xeon. It was followed by a third
version called the Pentium III and Pentium III Xeon,
respectively. The Pentium II line added the MMX instructions that were also present in the
Pentium MMX.
Versions
of these processors for the Laptop market were initially called Mobile
Pentium II and Mobile Pentium III, later versions were called Pentium
III-M. Starting with the Pentium II, the Celeron
brand was used for low-end versions of most Pentium processors with a reduced
feature set such as a smaller cache or missing power management features.
Netburst microarchitecture based
In
2000, Intel introduced a new microarchitecture called NetBurst, with a
much longer pipeline enabling higher clock frequencies than the P6 based
processors. Initially, these were called Pentium 4
and the high-end versions have since been called just Xeon. As with Pentium III,
there are both Mobile Pentium 4 and Pentium 4 M processors for
the laptop market, with Pentium 4 M denoting the more power-efficient versions.
Enthusiasts version of the Pentium 4 with the highest clock frequency were
called Pentium 4 Extreme Edition.
The
Pentium D
was the first multi-core Pentium, integrating two Pentium 4
chips in one package and was also available as the enthusiast Pentium Extreme Edition.
Pentium M microarchitecture based
In
2003, Intel introduced a new processor based on the P6 microarchitecture called
Pentium M,
which was much more power efficient than the Mobile Pentium 4, Pentium 4 M and
Pentium III M. Dual-core version of the Pentium M was developed under the code
name Yonah and sold under the marketing names Core Duo
and Pentium Dual-Core. Unlike Pentium D, it
integrated both cores on a single chip. From this point, the Intel Core
brand name was used for the mainstream Intel processors and the Pentium brand
became a low-end version between Celeron and Core. All Pentium M based designs
including Yonah are for the mobile market.
Core microarchitecture based
The
Pentium Dual-Core name continued to be used
when the Yonah design was extended with 64 bit support, now called the Core
microarchitecture. This microarchitecture eventually replaced all NetBurst
based processors across the four brands, Celeron, Pentium, Core and Xeon. Pentium
Dual-Core processors based on the Core microarchitecture use the Allendale and Wolfdale-3M designs for desktop processors and Merom-2M for mobile processors.
In
2009, Intel changed the naming system for Pentium processors, renaming the
Wolfdale-3M based processors to Pentium, without the Dual-Core name and
introduced new single- and dual-core processors based on Penryn under the Pentium name.
The
Penryn core is the successor to the Merom core and Intel's 45 nm version
of their mobile series of Pentium microprocessors. The FSB is increased from
667 MHz to 800 MHz and the voltage is lowered. Intel released the
first Penryn Core, the Pentium T4200, in December, 2008. In June 2009, Intel
released the first single-core processor to use the Pentium name, a Consumer Ultra-Low Voltage (CULV) Penryn core
called the Pentium SU2700.
In
September 2009, Intel introduced the Pentium SU4000 series together with the
Celeron SU2000 and Core 2 Duo SU7000 series, which are dual-core CULV
processors based on Penryn-3M and using 800 MHz FSB. The Pentium SU4000
series has 2 MB L2 cache but is otherwise basically identical to the other two
lines.
Nehalem microarchitecture based
The
Nehalem microarchitecture was introduced in late 2008 as a successor to the
Core microarchitecture, and in early 2010, a new Pentium G6950 processor
based on the Clarkdale design was introduced based on
the Westmere refresh of Nehalem, which were
followed by the mobile P6xxx based on Arrandale a few months later.
On
January 7, 2010, Intel launched a new Pentium model using the Clarkdale chip in
parallel with other desktop and mobile CPUs based on their new Westmere
microarchitecture. The first model in this series is the Pentium G6950. The
Clarkdale chip is also used in the Core i3-5xx and Core i5-6xx series and
features a 32 nm process (as it is based on the Westmere
microarchitecture), integrated memory controller and 45 nm graphics
controller and a third-level cache. In the Pentium series, some features of
Clarkdale are disabled. Compared to Core i3, it lacks Hyper-Threading
and the graphics controller in the Pentium runs at 533 MHz, while in the
Core i3 i3-5xx series they run at 733 MHz. Dual Video Decode that enables
Blu-ray picture-in picture hardware acceleration is disabled as well as Deep
Color and xvYCC
support[citation
needed]. The memory controller in the Pentium
supports DDR3-1066 max same as the Core i3 i3-5xx series (ref: http://ark.intel.com/products/43529).
The L3 cache is also 1 MB less than in the Core i3-5xx series.
Sandy Bridge microarchitecture based
The
Sandy Bridge microarchitecture was released in the Pentium line on May 22, 2011.
·
aAll models share the following details: 2 cores, 2 logical
processors (4 on Pentium 3xx with Hyper-threading),
CPUID signature 206A7, family 6 (06h), model 42 (02Ah), stepping 7 (07h)
·
bTLB / cache
64-byte Prefetching; Data TLB0 2-MB or 4-MB pages, 4-way associative, 32
entries; Data TLB 4-KB Pages, 4-way set associative, 64 entries; Instruction
TLB 4-KB Pages, 4-way set associative, 128 entries, L2 TLB 1-MB, 4-way set
associative, 64-byte line size; Shared 2nd-level TLB 4 KB pages, 4-way set
associative, 512 entries.
·
cAll models feature: On-chip Floating
Point Unit, Enhanced Intel SpeedStep
Technology (EIST), Intel 64, XD bit (an NX bit
implementation), Intel VT-x, Smart Cache.
·
eHD Graphics (Sandy Bridge) contain 6 EUs
as well as HD Graphics 2000, but does not support the following technologies: Intel Quick Sync Video, InTru 3D, Clear
Video HD, Wireless Display, and it doesn't support 3D Video or 3D graphics
acceleration.
Pentium compatible Intel processors
Due to its
prominence, the term "Pentium compatible" is often used to
describe any x86 processor that supports the IA-32 instruction set and
architecture. Even though they do not use the Pentium name, Intel also
manufactures other processors based on the Pentium series for other markets.
Most of these processors share the core design with one of the Pentium
processor lines, usually differing in the amount of CPU cache,
power efficiency or other features. The notable exception is the Atom line,
which is an independent design.
·
Celeron,
a low-end version
·
Core,
the mainstream version including Core 2 and Core i7, now placed above Pentium
·
Xeon, a high-end version
used in servers and workstations
·
A100
(discontinued), an ultra-mobile version of Pentium M
·
EP80579,
A system-on-a-chip based on Pentium M
·
Atom,
current ultra-mobile processors
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