The Pentium is a discontinued 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 branding would be discontinued and replaced with the new "Intel Processor" branding for low-end processors starting on January 1, 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 (286, i386, i486). However, as the firm wanted to prevent their competitors from branding their processors with similar names (as AMD had done with their Am486), 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.Intel Corporation, "NewsBits: Intel Unveils Name Of Fifth-Generation Processor", Microcomputer Solutions, November/December 1992, page 1
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, as a replacement for the original Pentium and the 80486 brand – the latter had been the low-end option for entry-level desktops and laptops for nine years. 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.
A year later, the "20th Anniversary Edition" wordmark was dropped, and new x86 processors started carrying the formerly used Pentium name again.
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 branding would be discontinued and replaced with the new "Intel Processor" branding for low-end processors in laptops starting on January 1, 2023. This applies to desktops using Pentium and Celeron processors as well, and both brands were discontinued around the same time laptops stopped using Pentium processors in favor of "Intel Processor" branded processors on January 1, 2023.
+Intel Pentium processor family Brand Microarchitecture Desktop Laptop Server PentiumPentium OverDriveP5 P5 (0.8 μm)P54C (0.6 μm)P54CS (0.35 μm) Pentium MMXPentium OverDrive MMX P55C (0.35 μm)Tillamook (0.25 μm) Pentium ProP6 P6 (0.5 μm)P6 (0.35 μm) Pentium IIPentium II XeonPentium II OverDriveMobile Pentium II Klamath (0.35 μm)Deschutes (0.25 μm) Tonga (0.25 μm)Dixon (0.25 μm)Dixon (0.18 μm) Drake (0.25 μm) Pentium IIIPentium III XeonMobile Pentium IIIPentium III M Katmai (0.25 μm)Coppermine (180 nm)Tualatin (130 nm) Coppermine (180 nm)Tualatin (130 nm) Tanner (0.25 μm)Cascades (180 nm) Pentium 4Pentium 4 Extreme Edition NetBurst Willamette (180 nm)Northwood (130 nm)Gallatin (130 nm)Prescott-2M (90 nm)Prescott (90 nm)Cedar Mill (65 nm) Northwood (130 nm)Prescott (90 nm) Rebranded as Xeon Pentium DPentium Extreme Edition Smithfield (90 nm)Presler (65 nm) Pentium MP6 based Banias (130 nm)Dothan (90 nm) Pentium Dual-Core Yonah (65 nm) Core Allendale (65 nm)Wolfdale-3M (45 nm) Merom-2M (65 nm) Pentium Core Wolfdale-3M (45 nm) Penryn-3M (45 nm) Nehalem Clarkdale (32 nm) Arrandale (32 nm) Sandy Bridge Sandy Bridge (32 nm) Ivy Bridge Ivy Bridge (22 nm) Haswell Haswell (22 nm) Broadwell Broadwell (14 nm) Skylake Skylake (14 nm) Braswell; Goldmont Kaby Lake Kaby Lake (14 nm) Goldmont Plus (Gemini Lake) Coffee Lake Coffee Lake (14 nm) Comet Lake Comet Lake (14 nm)
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 MT/s Slot 1 May 1997 Deschutes 0.25 μm 266–450 MHz 512 KB 66–100 MT/s Slot 1 January 1998 Tonga 0.25 μm 233–300 MHz 512 KB 66 MT/s MMC-2 April 1998 Dixon 0.25 μm 266–366 MHz 256 KB 66 MT/s 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 MT/s 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 GHz1 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
Pentium D
Core Process L2 cache FSB rates Socket Release date Smithfield 90 nm 2.66–3.2 GHz 2 MB 533–800 MT/s LGA 775 May 2005 Smithfield XE 90 nm 3.2 GHz 2 MB 800 MT/s LGA 775 May 2005 Presler 65 nm 2.8–3.6 GHz 4 MB 800 MT/s LGA 775 January 2006 Presler XE 65 nm 3.46–3.73 GHz 4 MB 1066 MT/s LGA 775 January 2006
Pentium M microarchitecture based In 2003, Intel introduced a new processor based on the P6 microarchitecture named Pentium M, which was much more power-efficient than the Mobile Pentium 4, Pentium 4 M, and Pentium III M. Dual-core versions of the Pentium M were 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 one 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.
Pentium M
Core Process L1 cache L2 cache FSB Socket Release date Banias 130 nm 0.9–1.7 GHz 64 KB 1 MB 400 MT/s Socket 479 March 2003 Dothan 90 nm 1.00–2.26 GHz 64 KB 2 MB 400–533 MT/s FC-uBGA June 2004
Pentium Dual-Core
Core Process L1 cache L2 cache FSB rates Socket Release date Yonah 65 nm 1.6–1.86 GHz 64 KB 1 MB 533 MT/s Socket M January 2007
Core microarchitecture based The Pentium Dual-Core name continued to be used when the Yonah design was extended with 64-bit support, now named the Core microarchitecture. This 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 Dual-Core