Pentium is a brand used for a series of x86-compatible microprocessors produced by Intel since 1993. In their current form, Pentium processors are considered entry-level products that Intel rates as "two stars", meaning that they are above the low-end Atom and Celeron series but below the faster Core i3, i5 and i7 lines as well as the high-end Xeon processors.
Contents
- Overview
- P5 microarchitecture based
- P6 microarchitecture based
- Netburst microarchitecture based
- Pentium M microarchitecture based
- Core microarchitecture based
- Pentium 2009
- Nehalem microarchitecture based
- Sandy Bridge microarchitecture based
- Ivy Bridge microarchitecture based
- Haswell microarchitecture based
- Pentium compatible Intel processors
- References
The current Pentium processors have only the name in common with the early ones, and are in fact based on the Intel Core architecture, typically implemented by lowering the clock frequency and disabling some features, such as hyper-threading, virtualization and, partly, L3 cache.
The name Pentium is originally derived from the Greek word penta-πεντα, meaning "five" (a reference to the previous numeric naming convention of Intel's 80n86 processors (80186-80486), with the Latin ending -ium.
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.
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. Marketing firm Lexicon Branding was hired to coin a name for the new processor. The suffix -ium was chosen as it could connote a fundamental ingredient of a computer, like a chemical element, while the prefix pent- could refer to the fifth generation of x86.
Due to its success, the Pentium brand would continue through several generations of high-end processors. In 2006, the name 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.
In 2014, Intel released the Pentium 20th Anniversary Edition, to mark the 20th anniversary of the Pentium brand. The processors are unlocked and highly overclockable.
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.
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.
Pentium (2009)
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. The memory controller in the Pentium supports DDR3-1066 max, the same as the Core i3 i3-5xx series. 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.
Ivy Bridge microarchitecture based
Currently, there exist models G2010, G2020, G2120, G2030 and G2130. All are dual core and have neither Hyper-Threading nor Turbo Boost.
Haswell microarchitecture based
A number of Haswell-based Pentium processors were released in 2013, among them the G3258 "Anniversary Edition", first released in 2014 by Intel to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the line. As with previous-generation Pentium processors, Haswell and Haswell Refresh-based parts only have two cores, lack support for hyper-threading, and use the LGA1150 socket form factor.
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.