Intel Pentium
Introduced by Intel in 1993, the Intel Pentium is a series of x86 microprocessors that marked a significant advancement in computing power and architecture. Operating at clock speeds ranging from 60 MHz to 300 MHz, the Pentium series introduced features such as superscalar architecture, which allowed it to execute multiple instructions per clock cycle, and a larger instruction set compared to its predecessors. The Pentium processors played a crucial role in the rapid expansion of personal computing during the 1990s, powering a wide range of desktop computers and workstations. Despite being succeeded by newer architectures, the Pentium series remains an iconic part of computing history, with its legacy continuing in various forms in modern x86-based processors.
- Snippet from Wikipedia: Pentium
Pentium is 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 entry-level products positioned above the low-end 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.