Pentium
Pentium was a series of x86 architecture-compatible microprocessors produced by Intel from 1993 to 2023. The original Pentium was Intel's fifth generation processor, succeeding the i486; 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 onwards were considered mid-range budget products positioned above the entry-level Atom and Celeron series, but below the faster Core lineup and workstation/server Xeon series.
The later Pentiums, which have little more than their name in common with earlier 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 and Celeron architectures; and 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 were to be replaced with the new "Intel Processor" branding for low-end processors in laptops from 2023 onwards. This applied to desktops using Pentium processors as well, and was discontinued around the same time laptops stopped using Pentium processors in favor of "Intel Processor" processors in 2023.
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 prior generations. However, as the firm wanted to prevent their competitors from branding their processors with similar names, Intel filed a trademark application on the name in the United States, but was denied because a series of numbers was considered to lack trademark distinctiveness. Instead, they would name their processors as "Pentium" rather than using numbers, which Andrew Grove wanted to trademark that generation processor.
Following Intel's prior series of 8086, 80186, 80286, 80386, and 80486 microprocessors, the firm's first P5-based processor 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 technology roadmaps, only to re-emerge in 2007.
In 1998, Intel introduced the Celeron brand for low-priced processors. 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 repurposed to be Intel's mid-range processor series, between the Celeron and Core series, continuing with the Pentium Dual-Core line.
In 2009, the "Dual-Core" suffix was dropped, and new x86 processors 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. These processors are unlocked and highly overclockable. From 2015 onwards, the "20th Anniversary Edition" wordmark was dropped from the name, branding it simply as the Pentium.
In 2017, Intel split the Pentium branding into two line-ups. Pentium Silver targets low-power devices and shares architecture with Atom and Celeron, while Pentium Gold targets entry-level desktops and uses existing architecture, such as Kaby Lake and Coffee Lake.
In September 2022, Intel announced that the Pentium and Celeron brands were to be replaced with the new "Intel Processor" branding for low-end processors in laptops from 2023 onwards. This applied to desktops using Pentium and Celeron processors as well, and both brands were discontinued in 2023 in favor of "Intel Processor" branded processors.
Pentium-branded processors
P5 microarchitecture based
The original Intel P5 or 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
| Core p | Process | L1 cache | FSB | Socket | Release date | |
| P5 | 0.8 μm | 60–66 MHz | 16 KB | 60–66 MHz | Socket 4 | March 1993 |
| P54C | 0.6 μm | 75–120 MHz | 16 KB | 50–66 MHz | Socket 5 | October 1994 |
| P54CS | 0.35 μm | 133–200 MHz | 16 KB | 60–66 MHz | Socket 7 | June 1995 |
| P55C | 0.35 μm | 120–233 MHz | 32 KB | 60–66 MHz | Socket 7 | January 1997 |
| Tillamook | 0.25 μm | 166–300 MHz | 32 KB | 66 MHz | Socket 7 | August 1997 |
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 named 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 named Mobile Pentium II and Mobile Pentium III, later versions were named 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.
Pentium Pro
| Core | Process | L2 cache | FSB | Socket | Release date | |
| P6 | 0.5 μm | 150 MHz | 256 KB | 60–66 MHz | Socket 8 | November 1995 |
| P6 | 0.35 μm | 166–200 MHz | 256–1024 KB | 60–66 MHz | Socket 8 |
Pentium II
| Core | Process | L2 cache | FSB | Socket | Release date | |
| Klamath | 0.35 μm | 233–300 MHz | 512 KB | 66 MHz | Slot 1 | May 1997 |
| Deschutes | 0.25 μm | 266–450 MHz | 512 KB | 66–100 MHz | Slot 1 | January 1998 |
| Tonga | 0.25 μm | 233–300 MHz | 512 KB | 66 MHz | MMC-2 | April 1998 |
| Dixon | 0.25 μm | 266–366 MHz | 256 KB | 66 MHz | MMC-2 | January 1999 |
Pentium III
| Core | Process | L2 cache | FSB | Socket | Release date | |
| Katmai | 0.25 μm | 450–600 MHz | 512 KB | 100–133 MHz | Slot 1 | February 1999 |
| Coppermine | 0.18 μm | 400 MHz–1.13 GHz | 256 KB | 100–133 MHz | Slot 1, Socket 370, BGA2, μPGA2 | October 1999 |
| Tualatin | 0.13 μm | 700 MHz–1.4 GHz | 512 KB | 100–133 MHz | Socket 370, BGA2, μPGA2 | July 2001 |
NetBurst microarchitecture based
In 2000, Intel introduced a new microarchitecture named NetBurst, with a much longer pipeline enabling higher clock frequencies than the P6-based processors. Initially, these were named Pentium 4, and the high-end versions have since been named simply 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. Enthusiast versions of the Pentium 4 with the highest clock rates were named Pentium 4 Extreme Edition.The Pentium D was the first multi-core Pentium, integrating two Pentium 4 chips in one package and was available as the enthusiast Pentium Extreme Edition.
Pentium 4
| Core | Process | L2 cache | FSB rates | Socket | Release date | |
| Willamette | 180 nm | 1.3–2.0 GHz | 256 KB | 400 MT/s | Socket 423, Socket 478 | November 2000 |
| Northwood | 130 nm | 1.6–3.4 GHz | 512 KB | 400 MT/s–800 MT/s | Socket 478 | January 2002 |
| Gallatin | 130 nm | 3.2–3.46 GHz | 512 KB + 2 MB L3 | 800–1066 MT/s | Socket 478, LGA 775 | November 2003 |
| Prescott | 90 nm | 2.4–3.8 GHz | 1 MB | 533 MT/s–800 MT/s | Socket 478, LGA 775 | February 2004 |
| Prescott-2M | 90 nm | 2.8–3.8 GHz | 2 MB | 800–1066 MT/s | LGA 775 | February 2005 |
| Cedar Mill | 65 nm | 3.0–3.6 GHz | 2 MB | 800 MT/s | LGA 775 | January 2006 |