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Pentium

 
Computer Desktop Encyclopedia: Pentium
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A family of 32-bit CPU chips from Intel. The term may refer to the chip or to a PC that uses it. Pentium chips have been the most widely used in the world for general-purpose computing. The last of the series were the dual-core Pentium 4 models, and the Pentium was superseded by the Core in 2006 (see Intel Core).

The first Pentium chip was introduced in 1993 as the successor to the 486; thus the Pentium began as the fifth generation of the Intel x86 architecture (see x86). Numerous Pentium models were introduced with increased performance. The Pentium uses a 64-bit internal bus compared to 32-bits in its 486 predecessor. Note that Intel's next-generation Itanium chip departed entirely from the Pentium architecture (see Itanium), while the Core line, which superseded the Pentium, retained the x86 instruction architecture for compatibility. Following is a brief summary of Pentium models:

Pentium 4 Dual Cores - Introduced in 2005

The Pentium D and Pentium Processor Extreme Edition were the first dual-core Pentium chips from Intel and the last of the Pentium line. Although both chips included Intel's 64-bit EM64T technology (later named "Intel 64"), the Pentium D did not include Hyper-Threading, but the Extreme Edition did. See Pentium Processor Extreme Edition.

Pentium 4 - Introduced in 2000 (1.4-3.4 GHz)

Latest Pentium architecture started out with a 400 MHz system bus and 256KB L2 cache (later increased to 800 MHz and 2MB). The first models contained 42 million transistors, used the 0.18 micron process and came in 423-pin and 478-pin PGA packages. Intel's first Pentium 4 chipset was the 850 and supported only Rambus memory (RDRAM), but subsequent chipsets switched to DDR SDRAM. See NetBurst.

Celeron - Introduced in 1998 (266 MHz-2.8 GHz)

Less expensive Pentium chips due to smaller L2 caches. First Celerons had no L2 cache, but 128KB on-die cache was added in 1999. Celerons started out with 66 and 100 MHz system buses that migrated to 400 MHz.

Pentium III - 1999-2001 (500 MHz-1.13 GHz)

The Pentium III added 70 additional instructions to the Pentium II. The Pentium III used a 100 or 133 MHz system bus and either a 512KB L2 cache or a 256KB L2 Advanced Transfer Cache. Depending on the model, it contained from 9.5 to 28 million transistors, used the 0.25 or 0.18 micron process and came in SECC and SECC2 packages. Mobile units came in BGA and micro-PGA (µPGA) packages.

Pentium III Xeon - 1999-2001 (500-933 MHz)

Typically used in 2-way to 8-way servers, Xeon specs were like Pentium III with L2 cache up to 2MB. The Xeon used the SECC2 and SC330 chip packages.

Pentium II - 1997-1999 (233-450 MHz)

Added MMX multimedia instructions to Pentium Pro and introduced the Single Edge Connector Cartridge (SECC) for Slot 1. The Pentium II used a 66 or 100 MHz system bus. Desktop models had 7.5 million transistors, 512KB L2 cache and were housed in SECC packages. Mobile models had 27.4 million transistors, 256KB L2 cache and were housed in either BGA or Mobile Mini-Cartridge (MMC) packages.

Pentium II Xeon - 1998-1999 (400-450 MHz)

Typically used in high-end and 2-way and 4-way servers, Xeon specs were like Pentium II with L2 cache from 512KB to 2MB and 100 MHz system bus.

Pentium Pro - 1995-1997 (150-200 MHz)

Typically used in high-end desktops and servers, the Pentium Pro increased memory from 4GB to 64GB. The Pentium Pro had L2 cache from 512KB to 1MB, used a 60 or 66 MHz system bus, contained from 5.5 to 62 million transistors. It was made with 0.35 process and housed in a dual cavity PGA package. When introduced, it was touted as being superior to the Pentium for 32-bit applications.

Pentium MMX - 1997-1999 (233-300 MHz)

Added MMX multimedia instructions to Pentium CPU and increased transistors to 4.5 million. Desktop units used PGA package and 0.35 process while mobile units used TCP and 0.25 process.

Pentium - 1993-1996 (60-200 MHz)

First Pentium CPU models. The Pentium had an L2 cache from 256KB to 1MB, used a 50, 60 or 66 MHz system bus and contained from 3.1 to 3.3 million transistors built on 0.6 to 0.35 process. Chips were housed in PGA packages.

                Maximum         Multimedia
   Model        Memory   Gen**  Instructions

   Pentium 4    4GB      NB     MMX, SSE, SSE2
   P4 Xeon      64GB     NB     MMX, SSE, SSE2

   Celeron      4GB      P6     MMX

   PIII Xeon    64GB     P6     MMX, SSE
   Pentium III  4GB      P6     MMX, SSE
   PII Xeon     64GB     P6     MMX
   Pentium II   4GB      P6     MMX
   Pentium Pro  64GB     P6

   Pentium MMX  4GB      P5     MMX
   Pentium      4GB      P5

 ** Code name for generation of architecture
    NB = NetBurst architecture

    MMX added 57 instructions (see MMX).
    SSE added 70; SSE2 added 144 (see SSE).

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Hacker Slang: Pentium
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Home > Library > Technology > Hacker Slang

The name given to Intel's P5 chip, the successor to the 80486. The name was chosen because of difficulties Intel had in trademarking a number. It suggests the number five (implying 586) while (according to Intel) conveying a meaning of strength “like titanium”. Among hackers, the plural is frequently ‘pentia’. See also Pentagram Pro.

Intel did not stick to this convention when naming its P6 processor the Pentium Pro; many believe this is due to difficulties in selling a chip with “hex” or “sex” in its name. Successor chips have been called Pentium II, Pentium III, and Pentium IV.

Britannica Concise Encyclopedia: Pentium
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Home > Library > Miscellaneous > Britannica Concise Encyclopedia

Family of microprocessors developed by Intel Corp. Introduced in 1993 as the successor to Intel's 80486 microprocessor, the Pentium contained two processors on a single chip and about 3.3 million transistors. Using a CISC (complex instruction set computer) architecture, its main features were a 32-bit address bus, a 64-bit data bus, built-in floating-point and memory-management units, and two 8KB caches. It was available with processor speeds ranging from 60 megahertz (MHz) to 200 MHz. The Pentium quickly became the processor of choice for personal computers. It was superseded by ever faster and more powerful processors, the Pentium Pro (1995), the Pentium II (1997), the Pentium III (1999), and the Pentium 4 (2000).

For more information on Pentium, visit Britannica.com.

Wikipedia: Pentium
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Home > Library > Miscellaneous > Wikipedia
This article is about the original Pentium microprocessor launched in 1993. For current processors marketed as Pentium or Pentium Dual-Core, see Pentium Dual-Core. For other uses of the Pentium name, see Pentium (disambiguation).
KL P1 Family.jpg
The Intel Pentium family
Produced From 1993 to 1999
Common manufacturer(s) Intel
Max. CPU clock 60 MHz to 300 MHz
FSB speeds 50  to 66 
Min. feature size 0.8µm to 0.25µm
Instruction set x86
Microarchitecture P5
Cores 1
Socket(s) Socket 4, Socket 5, Socket 7
Core name(s) P5. P54, P54CS, P55C, Tillamook

The original Pentium processor was a 32-bit microprocessor produced by Intel. The first superscalar x86 architecture processor,[1] it was introduced on March 22, 1993.[2] Its microarchitecture (sometimes called P5) was a direct extension of the 80486 architecture with dual integer pipelines, a faster FPU, wider data bus, and features for further reduced address calculation latency. In 1996, the Pentium MMX was introduced with the same basic microarchitecture complemented with MMX instructions, larger caches, and some other enhancements.

The name Pentium was derived from the Greek pente (πέντε), meaning 'five', and the Latin ending -ium, a name selected after courts had disallowed trademarking of number-based names like "i586" or "80586". In 1995, Intel started to employ the registered Pentium trademark also for x86 processors with radically different microarchitectures (Pentium Pro / II / III / 4 / D / M). In 2006, the Pentium brand briefly disappeared from Intel's roadmaps,[3][4] only to re-emerge in 2007.[5]

Vinod Dham is often referred to as the father of the Intel Pentium processor,[6][7] although many people, including John H. Crawford (of i386 and i486 alumni), were involved in the design and development of the processor.

Contents

Improvements over i486

  • Superscalar architecture — The Pentium has two datapaths (pipelines) that allow it to complete more than one instruction per clock cycle. One pipe (called U) can handle any instruction, while the other (called V) can handle the simplest, most common instructions. Some RISC proponents had argued that the "complicated" x86 instruction set would probably never be implemented by a tightly pipelined microarchitecture, much less by a dual pipeline design. The 486 and the Pentium demonstrated that this was indeed possible and feasible.
  • 64-bit external databus width — This doubles the amount of information read or written on each memory access. This doesn't mean that the Pentium can execute 64-bit applications; its main registers are still 32 bits wide.
  • Faster floating point unit.
  • MMX instructions (later models only) - A basic SIMD instruction set extension designed for use in multimedia applications.
  • Virtualized interrupt to speed up virtual 8086 mode.
  • Enhanced debug features with the introduction of the Processor-based debug port (See Pentium Processor Debugging in the Developers Manual, Vol 1).
  • Enhanced self test features like the L1 cache parity check (see Cache Structure in the Developers Manual, Vol 1).

Pentium architecture chips offered just under twice the performance of a 486 processor per clock cycle. The fastest Intel 486 parts were almost as powerful as a first-generation Pentium, and the AMD Am5x86 was roughly equal to the Pentium 75.

The Pentium ("Classic") series were designed to run at over 100 million instructions per second (MIPS),[8] with the 75 MHz model running at 126.5 MIPS.[9]

Models

The Pentium was Intel's primary microprocessor for personal computers during the mid-1990s. The original design was reimplemented in newer processes and new features were added to maintain its competitiveness as well as to address specific markets such as portable computers. As a result, there were six variants of the Pentium.

P5

Intel Pentium microarchitecture.

The original Pentium microprocessor was code-named "P5". Its product code was 80501 (80500 for the earliest steppings) and it operated at 60 MHz and 66 MHz. It contained 3.1 million transistors and measured 16.7 mm by 17.6 mm for an area of 293.92 mm2.[10] It was fabricated in a 0.8 µm BiCMOS process.

P54C

The P5 was followed by the P54C (80502), which operated at 75, 90 and 100 MHz. It employed an internal clock multiplier to let the internal circuitry work at a higher frequency than the front side bus, as it is much more difficult to increase the front side bus frequency. It also allowed two-way multiprocessing. It contained 3.3 million transistors and measured 163 mm2.[11] It was fabricated in a 0.5 µm (described by Intel as "0.6 µm") BiCMOS process.[11]

P54CQS

The P54C was followed by the P54CQS which operated at 120 MHz. It was fabricated in a 0.35 µm BiCMOS process, unlike early rumors of it being a CMOS design, and was the first commercial microprocessor to be fabricated in a 0.35 µm process.[11] It had an identical transistor count to the P54C and despite the newer process, it had an identical area as well. The reason for this was because of time-to-market requirements. The chip was connected to the package using wire-bonding, which only allows connections along the edges of the chip. A smaller chip would have required a redesign of the package, as there is a limit on the length of the wires and the edges of the chip would be further away from the pads on the package. The solution was to keep the chip at the same size, retain the existing pad-ring, and only reduce the size of the Pentium's logic circuitry to enable it to achieve higher clock frequencies.[11]

P54CS

The P54CQS was followed by the P54CS, which operated at 133, 150, 166 and 200 MHz. It contained 3.3 million transistors, measured 90 mm2 and was fabricated in a 0.35 µm BiCMOS process with four levels of interconnect.

Bugs and problems

The early versions of 60-100 MHz Pentiums had a problem in the floating point unit that resulted in incorrect (but predictable) results from some division operations. This bug, discovered in 1994 by professor Thomas Nicely at Lynchburg College, Virginia, became known as the Pentium FDIV bug and caused embarrassment for Intel, which created an exchange program to replace the faulty processors. Soon afterwards, a bug was discovered which could allow a malicious program to crash a system without any special privileges (the f00f bug); fortunately, operating systems were able to implement workarounds to prevent crashes.

The 60 and 66 MHz 0.8 µm versions of the Pentium processors also had (for the time) high heat production due to their 5V operation, and were often known colloquially as "coffee warmers" or some similar nickname.[citation needed] The P54C used 3.3V and had significantly lower power draw (a quadratic relationship). P5 Pentiums used Socket 4, while P54C started out on Socket 5 before moving to Socket 7 in later revisions. All desktop Pentiums from P54CS onwards used Socket 7.

Pentium OverDrive

Main article: Pentium OverDrive

The P24T Pentium OverDrive for 486-systems were released in 1995, which were based on 3.3V 0.6 µm versions using a 63 or 83 MHz clock. Since these used Socket 2/3, some modifications had to be made to compensate for the 32-bit data bus and slower on-board L2 cache of 486-motherboards. They were therefore equipped with a 32KB L1 cache (double that of pre-P55C Pentiums).

P55C, Tillamook

Pentium logo, with MMX enhancement
Intel Pentium MMX microarchitecture.
Pentium MMX 166 MHz without cover

The P55C (or 80503) was developed by Intel's Research & Development Center in Haifa, Israel. It was sold as Pentium with MMX Technology (usually just called Pentium MMX); although it was based on the P5 core it featured a new set of 57 "MMX" instructions intended to improve performance on multimedia tasks, such as encoding and decoding digital media data. The Pentium MMX line was introduced on 22 October 1996.[12]

The new instructions work on new data types: 64-bit packed vectors of either eight 8-bit integers, four 16-bit integers, two 32-bit integers, or one 64-bit integer. So, for example, the PADDUSB (Packed ADD Unsigned Saturated Byte) instruction adds two vectors, each containing eight 8-bit unsigned integers together, pairwise; each addition that would overflow saturates, yielding 255, the maximum unsigned value that can be represented in a byte. These rather specialized instructions generally require special coding by the programmer for them to be used. The performance of the P55C was improved over previous versions by a doubling of the Level 1 CPU cache from 16 KB to 32 KB.

It contained 4.5 million transistors and had an area of 140 mm2. It was fabricated in a 0.28 µm CMOS process with the same metal pitches as the previous 0.35 µm BiCMOS process, so Intel described it as "0.35 µm" because of its similar transistor density.[13] The process has four levels of interconnect.[13]

Pentium P55C notebook CPUs used a "mobile module" that held the CPU. This module was a PCB with the CPU directly attached to it in a special smaller form factor. The module snapped to the notebook motherboard and typically a heat spreader plate was installed and made contact with the module. Such notebooks frequently used the Intel 430MX chipset, a feature-reduced 430FX. However, with the 0.25 µm Tillamook Mobile Pentium MMX (named after a city in Oregon), the module also held the 430TX chipset along with the system's 512 KB SRAM cache memory.

While the P55C is compatible with the common Socket 7 motherboard configuration, the voltage requirements for powering the chip differ from the standard Socket 7 specifications. Due to certain manufacturers not preparing for the introduction of MMX technology most motherboards manufactured for Socket 7 previous to the establishment of the P55C standard are not compliant with the dual intensity required for proper operation of this chip. The Intel Corporation temporarily manufactured a conversion kit called the Overdrive that was designed to correct this lack of planning on the motherboard manufacturers part.

Models and variants

KL Intel Pentium A80501.jpg KL Intel Pentium P5.jpg
KL Intel Pentium 75.jpg
 KL Intel Pentium 120.jpg
Intel Pentium 133.jpg
 KL Intel Pentium P54C 200.jpg
KL Intel Pentium MMX.jpg
Intel Pentium MMX 166 PGA Front.jpg
KL Intel Pentium Mobile.jpg
Code name P5 P54C P54CS P55C Tillamook
Product code 80500/ 80501 80502 80503
Process size (µm) 0.80 0.60 or 0.35* 0.35 0.35 (later 0.28) 0.25
Socket Socket 4 Socket 5/7 Socket 7
Package CPGA CPGA/TCP* CPGA/PPGA/TCP* CPGA/PPGA/TCP* TCP/TCP on MMC-1
Clock speed (MHz) 60 66 75 90 100 120 133 150 166 200 120* 133* 150* 166 200 233 200 233 266 300
Bus speed (MHz) 60 66 50 60 66 60 66 60 66 60 66 60 66
Voltage 5.0 5.0 3.3 2,9* 3.3 2.9* 3.3 3.1* 2.9* 3.3 3.1* 2.9* 3.3 3.1* 2.9* 3.3 3.1* 2.9* 3.3 3.3 2.8 2.45 2.45 2.8 2.8 2.8 1.8 1.8 1.8 1.8
Introduced 1993-03-22 1994-10-10 1994-03-07 1995-03-27 1995-06 1996-01-04 1996-06-10 1995-03-27 - 1995-11-01 1997-01-08 1997-06-02 1997-08 1998-01 1999-01
An asterisk indicates that these were only available as Mobile Pentium or Mobile Pentium MMX chips for laptops.
Pentium MMX Overdrive
KL Intel Pentium MMX Overdrive A.jpg
Code name P54CTB
Product code PODPMT60X150 PODPMT66X166 PODPMT60X180 PODPMT66X200
Process size (µm) 0.35
Socket Socket 5/7
Package CPGA with heatsink, fan and voltage regulator
Clock speed (MHz) 125 150 166 150 180 200
Bus speed (MHz) 50 60 66 50 60 66
Upgrade for Pentium 75 Pentium 90 Pentium 100 and 133 Pentium 75 Pentium Pentium 90, 120 and 150 Pentium 100, 133 and 166
TDP (max. W) 15,6 15,6 15,6 18
Voltage 3,3 3,3 3,3 3,3
Embedded versions of Pentium MMX
KL Intel Pentium MMX embedded Top.jpg
KL Intel Embedded Pentium MMX PGA Bottom.jpg
Code name P55C Tillamook
Product code FV8050366200 FV8050366233 FV80503CSM66166 GC80503CSM66166 GC80503CS166EXT FV80503CSM66266 GC80503CSM66266
Process size (µm) 0.35 0.25
Clock speed (MHz) 200 233 166 166 166 266 266
Bus speed (MHz) 66 66 66 66 66 66 66
Package PPGA PPGA PPGA BGA BGA PPGA BGA
TDP (max. W) 15,7 17 4.5 4.1 4.1 7.6 7.6
Voltage 2.8 2.8 1.9 1.8 1.8 1.9 2.0

See also

Competitors

References

  1. ^ "Intel Pentium Processor Family". Intel. http://www.intel.com/pressroom/kits/quickreffam.htm#pentium. Retrieved 2007-08-14. 
  2. ^ "View Processors Chronologically by Date of Introduction:". Intel. http://www.intel.com/pressroom/kits/quickrefyr.htm#1993. Retrieved 2007-08-14. 
  3. ^ "Intel "Conroe-L" Details Unveiled". DailyTech. http://www.dailytech.com/article.aspx?newsid=4252. Retrieved 2007-08-16. 
  4. ^ The multicore era is upon us - CNET Asia
  5. ^ "Intel to unify product naming scheme". TG Daily. http://www.tgdaily.com/content/view/33234/122/. Retrieved 2007-08-12. 
  6. ^ "Vinod Dham, Father of Pentium Processor, on Investing in India". PodTech.net. 2006-10-16. http://www.podtech.net/home/1291/the-kamla-bhatt-show-vinod-dham-father-of-pentium-processor-on-investing-in-india. Retrieved 2007-08-16. "Vinod Dham, Father of Pentium Processor" 
  7. ^ Bach, John (10 2000). "The Technology Trailblazer: Vinod Dham". University Relations, University of Cincinnati. http://www.magazine.uc.edu/1000/dham.htm. Retrieved 2007-08-16. "Today, known in the industry as the Father of the Pentium" 
  8. ^ http://dede.essortment.com/pcusersguides_rjje.htm
  9. ^ http://www.islandnet.com/~kpolsson/micropro/proc1994.htm
  10. ^ Case, Brian (29 March 1993). "Intel Reveals Pentium Implementation Details". Microprocessor Report.
  11. ^ a b c d Gwennap, Linley (27 March 1995). "Pentium is First CPU to Reach 0.35 Micron". Microprocessor Report.
  12. ^ "New Chip Begs New Questions". CNet. http://news.cnet.com/New-chip-begs-new-questions/2100-1001_3-240247.html?tag=mncol. Retrieved 2009-02-06. 
  13. ^ a b Slater, Michael (5 March 1996). "Intel's Long-Awaited P55C Disclosed". Microprocessor Report.

External links

Intel Datasheets

Intel Manuals
These Manuals do provide a overview of the Pentium Processor and its features:

v • d • e
Intel processors
Discontinued
pre-x86
4004 · 4040 · 8008 · 8080 · 8085
x86-16 (16 bit)
8086 · 8088 · 80186 · 80188 · 80286
x86-32/IA-32 (32 bit)
80386 · 80486 · Pentium · Pentium Pro · Pentium II · Pentium III · Pentium 4 · Pentium M · Core · Celeron M · Celeron D · A100
x86-64/EM64T (64 bit)
Other
Itanium — iAPX 432 — RISC: i860 · i960 · StrongARM · XScale
Current
EP80579 · Atom · Celeron · Pentium Dual-Core · Core (2 · i5 · i7) · Xeon · Itanium
Upcoming
Lists
CPU Sockets · Chipsets · Microarchitectures · Processors · Future Processors · Codenames · GMA
Atom · Celeron · Core · Core 2 · Core i5 · Core i7 · Itanium · Pentium (Pro · II · III · 4 · D · Dual-Core · M) · Xeon
Microarchitectures
P5
 
P5 based cores
0.90 μm
0.60 μm
0.35 μm
0.25 μm
 
P6 based cores
0.50 μm
0.35 μm
0.25 μm
180 nm
130 nm
90 nm
65 nm
 
NetBurst based cores
180 nm
130 nm
90 nm
65 nm
 
Core microarchitecture based cores
65 nm
45 nm
 
Atom based cores
45 nm
 
Nehalem based cores
45 nm
32 nm
Future

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Translations: Pentium
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Home > Library > Literature & Language > Translations

Dansk (Danish)
n. - Pentium

Français (French)
n. - (Comput) pentium

Deutsch (German)
n. - (EDV) Pentium

Ελληνική (Greek)
n. - επεξεργαστής Pentium

Español (Spanish)
n. - (informática) Pentium, microprocesador de ordenadores personales

Svenska (Swedish)
n. - Intel dataprocessor (varunamn)

中文（简体）(Chinese (Simplified))
美国英特尔公司生产的微处理器

中文（繁體）(Chinese (Traditional))
n. - 美國英代爾公司生產的微處理器

한국어 (Korean)
n. - 펜티엄 컴퓨터

العربيه (Arabic)
‏(الاسم) معالج كمومبيوتر معروف‏

עברית (Hebrew)
n. - ‮שם לסידרת מחשבים אישיים‬

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