pentium

2 definitions found

pentium - Free On-line Dictionary of Computing (26 May 2007) :

  Pentium
  
     <processor> Intel's superscalar successor to the 486.
     It has two 32-bit 486-type integer pipelines with dependency
     checking.  It can execute a maximum of two instructions per
     cycle.  It does pipelined floating-point and performs
     branch prediction.  It has 16 kilobytes of on-chip
     cache, a 64-bit memory interface, 8 32-bit general-purpose
     registers and 8 80-bit floating-point registers.  It is
     built from 3.1 million transistors on a 262.4 mm^2 die with
     ~2.3 million transistors in the core logic.  Its clock rate
     is 66MHz, heat dissipation is 16W, integer performance is 64.5
     SPECint92, floating-point performance 56.9 SPECfp92.
  
     It is called "Pentium" because it is the fifth in the 80x86
     line.  It would have been called the 80586 had a US court not
     ruled that you can't trademark a number.
  
     The successors are the Pentium Pro and Pentium II.
  
     The following Pentium variants all belong to "x86 Family 6",
     as reported by "Microsoft Windows" when identifying the CPU:
  
      Model  Name
      1      Pentium Pro
      2      ?
      3      Pentium II
      4      ?
      5, 6   Celeron or Pentium II
      7      Pentium III
      8      Celeron uPGA2 or Mobile Pentium III
  
     A floating-point division bug (ftp://ftp.isi.edu/pub/carlton/pentium/FAQ)
      was discovered in
     October 1994.
  
     [Internal implementation, "Microprocessor Report" newsletter,
     1993-03-29, volume 7, number 4].
  
     [Pentium based computers, PC Magazine, 1994-01-25].
  
     (2003-09-30)
  

pentium - Jargon File (4.4.4, 14 Aug 2003) :

  Pentium
   n.
  
     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.