Pentium

Pentium
First Pentium logo (1993)
General information
LaunchedMarch 22, 1993 (1993-03-22)
Discontinued2023[1]
Marketed byIntel
Designed byIntel
Common manufacturer(s)
Performance
Max. CPU clock rate60 MHz to 4.4 GHz
FSB speeds50 MHz to 800 MT/s
DMI speeds2 GT/s to 16 GT/s
Architecture and classification
Technology node800 nm to Intel 7
Microarchitecture
Instruction setIA-32, x86-64
Instructionsx86
Physical specifications
Cores
  • 1-5
Socket(s)
Products, models, variants
Brand name(s)
Variant(s)
History
Predecessor(s)i486
Successor(s)Core, Intel Processor
Pentium logos
1993–2003
2003–2006
2006–2009
2009–2013
2013-2015
2015–2020
2020–2023

Pentium is a discontinued series of x86 architecture-compatible microprocessors produced by Intel. The original Pentium was first released on March 22, 1993. The name "Pentium" is originally derived from the Greek word pente (πεντε), meaning "five", a reference to the prior numeric naming convention of Intel's 80x86 processors (8086–80486), with the Latin ending -ium since the processor would otherwise have been named 80586 using that convention.

Pentium was Intel's flagship processor line for over a decade until the introduction of the Intel Core line in 2006. Pentium-branded processors released from 2009 to 2023 were considered entry-level products that Intel rated as "two stars",[2][3] meaning that they were above the low-end Atom and Celeron series, but below the faster Intel Core lineup and workstation/server Xeon series. These later Pentium processors have little more than their name in common with earlier Pentiums.

The later Pentiums were based on both the architecture used in Atom and that of Core processors. In the case of Atom architectures, Pentiums were the highest performance implementations of the architecture. Pentium processors with Core architectures prior to 2017 were distinguished from the faster, higher-end i-series processors by lower clock rates and disabling some features, such as hyper-threading, virtualization and sometimes L3 cache.

In 2017, the Pentium brand was split up into two separate lines using the Pentium name:

  • Pentium Silver, aiming for low-power devices using the Atom & Celeron architectures.
  • Pentium Gold, aiming for entry-level desktop and using existing architectures such as Kaby Lake or Coffee Lake.

In September 2022, Intel announced that the Pentium and Celeron brands will be replaced with the new "Intel Processor" branding for low-end processors in laptops from 2023 onwards.[1] This also applies to desktops using Pentium processors, and they were discontinued around the same time laptops stopped using Pentium processors in favor of "Intel Processor" processors in 2023.

  1. ^ a b Warren, Tom (September 16, 2022). "Intel Processor will replace Pentium and Celeron in 2023 laptops". The Verge. Retrieved December 22, 2022.
  2. ^ "Processor Names and Numbers". Intel. Retrieved March 26, 2022.
  3. ^ "Intel Processors". Intel. Retrieved March 26, 2022.

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