•HISTORY OF PROCESSORS

The history of the processor is an interesting one, full of fierce competition and advanced technology, yet short in the terms of years. At the point where I will begin addressing this history, we are beginning with a 5 MHz 8086 processor, and today we are routinely seeing 1.8 GHz to up over 2 GHz. What a difference 20-some years can make. Let us start

NOW I AM INTRODUCING THE FIRST PROCESSOR USED BY THE WORLD WHICH IS KNOWN AS 8O86 [1978] This chip was skipped over for the original PC, but was

used in a few later computers that didn't amount to much. It was a true 16-bit processor and talked with its cards via

a 16 wire data connection. The chip contained 29,000 transistors and 20 address lines

that gave it the ability to talk with up to 1 MB of RAM. The chip was available in 5, 6,, 8, and 10 MHz versions.

Produced From 1978 to 1990s

Common manufacturer(s)

Intel

Max CPU clock

5 MHz to 10 MHz

Instruction set x86-16

Package(s) 40 pin DIP

INTEL 8088 [1979]

Produced From 1979 to 1990s

Common manufacturer(s)

Intel

Max CPU clock 5 MHz to 10 MHzInstruction set x86-16

Package(s) 40 pin DIP

The 8088 is, for all practical purposes, identical to the 8086. The only difference is that it handles its address lines differently than the 8086. This chip was the one that was chosen for the first IBM PC, and like the 8086, it is able to work with the 8087 math coprocessor chip.

INTEL 80186[1980] The 186 was a popular chip. Many versions have been developed in its history. Buyers could choose from CHMOS or HMOS, 8-bit or 16-bit versions, depending on what they needed. A CHMOS chip could run at twice the clock speed and at one fourth the power of the HMOS chip. In 1990, Intel came out with the Enhanced 186 family. They all shared a common core design. They had a 1-micron core design and ran at about 25MHz at 3 volts. The 80186 contained a high level of integration, with the system controller, interrupt controller, DMA controller and timing circuitry right on the CPU. Despite this, the 186 never found itself in a personal computer.

An Intel 80186 Microprocessor

ProducedFrom 1982 to present (the CMOS version)

Common manufacturer(s)

Intel

Max CPU clock 6 MHz to 12 MHz

Instruction set x86-16

Package(s) 68-pin

INTEL 80286 [1982] A 16-bit, 134,000 transistor processor capable of addressing

up to 16 MB of RAM. In addition to the increased physical memory support, this chip is able to work with virtual memory, thereby allowing much for expandability. The 286 was the first "real" processor. It introduced the concept of protected mode. This is the ability to multitask, having different programs run separately but at the same time. It ran at 8, 10, and 12.5 MHz, but later editions of the chip ran as high as 20 MHz. While these chips are considered paperweights today

INTEL 386 [1985-1990] The 386 was a 32-bit processor, meaning its data throughput was

immediately twice that of the 286. Containing 275,000 transistors, the 80386DX processor came in 16, 20, 25, and 33 MHz versions.

The 386 was the first chip to use instruction pipelining, which allows the processor to start working on the next instruction before the previous one is complete.

In 1988, Intel released the 386SX, which was basically a low-fat version of the 386. It used the 16-bit data bus rather than the 32-bit, and it was slower, but it thus used less power and thus enabled Intel to promote the chip into desktops and even portables.

Also, the 386 offered power friendly features such as low voltage requirements and System Management Mode (SMM) which could power down various components to save power.

An Intel 80286 Microprocessor

Produced From 1982 to early 1990s

Common manufacturer(s)

IntelAMDHarris Corporation

Siemens AG

Max CPU clock 6 MHz to 25 MHz

Min feature size 1.5 µm

Instruction set x86-16 (with MMU)

Package(s) PLCC 68-pin

Intel 80386 DX, 33 MHz, foreground

Produced From 1986 to September 2007

Common manufacturer(s)

IntelAMD

IBM

Max CPU clock 12 MHz to 40 MHzMin feature size 1.5 µm to 1 µmInstruction set x86 (IA-32)

Socket(s)

132-pin PGA, 132-pin PQFP; SX variant: 100-pin PQFPIntel 80386 DX, 33 MHz, foreground

INTEL 486 [1989-1994] The 80486DX was a 32-bit processor containing 1.2 million transistors. It had the same memory capacity as the 386 (both were 32-bit) but

offered twice the speed at 26.9 million instructions per second (MIPS) at 33 MHz.

It also contained an integrated 8 KB on-die cache. This increases speed by using the instruction pipelining to predict the next instructions and then storing them in the cache. Then, when the processor needs that data, it pulls it out of the cache rather than using the necessary overhead to access the external memory.

Also, the 486 came in 5 volt and 3 volt versions, allowing flexibility for desktops and laptops.

The exposed die of an Intel 80486DX2 microprocessor

Produced From 1989 to 2007

Common manufacturer(s)IntelIBM

Max CPU clock 16 MHz to 100 MHzFSB speeds 16 MHz to 50 MHzMin feature size 1, 0.8, 0.6 µmInstruction set x86Cores 1

Socket(s)

Socket 1Socket 2

Socket 3

THE PENTIUM [1993] The original Pentium performed at 60 MHz and 100 MIPS. It is also called the "P5" or "P54", the chip contained 3.21

million transistors and worked on the 32-bit address bus (same as the 486).

It has a 64-bit external data bus which could operate at roughly twice the speed of the 486.

Pentium is compatible with all of the older operating systems including DOS, Windows 3.1, Unix, and OS/2. Its superscalar design can execute two instructions per clock cycle.

The first Pentium chips operated at 5 volts and thus operated rather hotly. Starting at the 100MHz version, the requirement was reduced to 3.3 volts.

75 MHz classic Pentium processor

75 MHz classic Pentium processorProduced From 1993 to 1999

Common manufacturer(s) Intel

Max CPU clock 60 MHz to 300 MHzFSB speeds 50  to 66 Min feature size 0.8 µm to 0.25 µmInstruction set x86Microarchitecture P5Cores 1

Socket(s) Socket 4, Socket 5, Socket 7

Core name(s) P5. P54, P54CS, P55C, Tillamook

INCREASED SPEED IS ACHIEVED BY DIVIDING PROCESSING INTO MORE STAGES, AND MORE WORK IS DONE WITHIN EACH CLOCK CYCLE. . THREE INSTRUCTIONS CAN BE DECODED IN EACH CLOCK CYCLE, AS OPPOSED TO ONLY TWO FOR THE PENTIUM.. INSTRUCTION DECODING AND EXECUTION ARE DECOUPLED, MEANING THAT INSTRUCTIONS CAN STILL BE EXECUTED IF ONE PIPELINE STOPS (SUCH AS WHEN ONE INSTRUCTION IS WAITING FOR DATA FROM MEMORY; THE PENTIUM WOULD STOP ALL PROCESSING AT THIS POINT). . IT HAS TWO SEPARATE 8K L1 CACHE (ONE FOR DATA AND ONE FOR INSTRUCTIONS), AND UP TO 1 MB OF ONBOARD L2 CACHE IN THE SAME PACKAGE.. THE ONBOARD L2 CACHE INCREASED PERFORMANCE IN AND OF ITSELF BECAUSE THE CHIP DID NOT HAVE TO MAKE USE OF AN L2 CACHE ON THE MOTHERBOARD ITSELF.. PPRO IS OPTIMIZED FOR 32-BIT CODE, SO IT WILL RUN 16-BIT CODE NO FASTER THAN A PENTIUM, WHICH IS A BIG DRAWBACK.. IT’S STILL A GREAT PROCESSOR FOR SERVERS, BEING IT CAN BE IN MULTIPROCESSOR SYSTEMS WITH 4 PROCESSORS.

THE PENTIUM PRO [1995-99]

Pentium Pro with 256 KB L2-Cache

Produced November 1, 1995

Common manufacturer(s)

Intel

Max CPU clock

150 MHz to 200 MHz

FSB speeds 60  to 66 Min feature size

0.35 µm to 0.50 µm

Instruction se x86

Microarchitecture P6

Cores 1

Socket(s) Socket 8

PENTIUM MMX [1997] One of the more improved flavors was the Pentium MMX, released in 1997.

The Pentium MMX performed up to 10-20% faster with standard software, and higher with software optimized for the MMX instructions.

Many multimedia applications and games that took advantage of MMX performed better, had higher frame rates, etc.

The dual 8K caches of the Pentium were doubled to 16 KB each. It also had improved dynamic branch prediction, a pipelined FPU, and an additional instruction pipe to allow faster instruction processing.

The line lasted up until recently, and went up to 233 MHz. While new PCs with this processor are all but non-existent

Pentium MMX 233 MHz (P55C, 80503) top

AMD K6 (1997)The K6 processor compared, performance-wise, to the new Intel Pentium II's, but the K6 was still a pentium alternative.The K6 took on the MMX instruction set developed by Intel, allowing it to go head to head with Pentium MMX.. It contained 64KB of L1 cache (32KB for data and 32KB for instructions). During its life span, it was released in 166MHz to 300 MHz versions.

  Original K6 (Model 6)

PENTIUM II [1997] Pentium II is optimized for 32-bit

applications. It also contains the MMX instruction set, which is almost a standard by this time.

The chip uses the dynamic execution technology of the Pentium Pro, allowing the processor to predict coming instructions, accelerating work flow.

Pentium II has 32KB of L1 cache (16KB each for data and instructions) and has a 512KB of L2 cache on package.

The chip and L2 cache actually reside on a card which attaches to the mother.

The L2 cache runs at ½ the speed of the processor, not at full speed. board via a slot, much like an expansion card

It ran at a paltry 66 MHz bus speed and ranged from 233MHz to 450MHz.

They used a 0.25 micron design technology for this one, and allowed a 100MHz system bus.

A Slot 1 Pentium II – front view

Produced From mid 1997 to early 1999

Common manufacturer(s)

Intel

Max CPU clock 233 MHz to 450 MHz

FSB speeds 66  to 100 Min feature size

0.35 µm to 0.25 µm

Instruction set x86, MMXMicroarchitecture

P6Cores 1

Socket(s)

Slot 1MMC-1MMC-2Mini-Cartridge

Others

Core name(s)

KlamathDeschutesTonga

Dixon

CELERON [1998] As a product concept, the Celeron

was introduced in response to Intel's loss of the low-end market

From CELERON Intel removed the L2 cache from the Pentium II. They also removed the support for dual processors, an ability that the Pentium II had.

The chip was limited to the 66MHz system bus.

they ditched the plastic cover which the P2 had, leaving simply the processor on the Slot 1 style card. This, no doubt, reduced the cost of the processor quite a bit, but performance suffered noticeably.

The Celerons with full speed cache operated much better than the Pentium II's with 512 KB of cache running at half speed.

The original Celerons used the patented Slot 1 interface.

Slot 1 Celerons ranged from the original 233MHz up to 433 MHz, while Celerons 300MHz and up were available in Socket 370.

Produced From April 1998 to Present

Common manufacturer(s)

Intel

Max CPU clock 266 MHz to 3.60 GHz

FSB speeds 66 MHz to 800 MT/s

Min feature size 0.25 µm to 0.065 µm

Instruction set x86, x86-64Microarchitecture

P6, NetBurst, Core

Socket(s)

Slot 1Socket 370Socket 478LGA775

Socket M

Core name(s)

CovingtonMendocinoCoppermine-128Tualatin-256

Willamette-128

PENTIUM III [1999] The first Pentium III variant was the Katmai (Intel product code

80525). It used a 0.25 µm CMOS semiconductor process. The only differences were the introduction of SSE and an improved L1 cache controller, which was responsible for the minor performance improvements over the "Deschutes" Pentium IIs. It was first released at speeds of 450 and 500 MHz.

It was first released at speeds of 450 and 500 MHz. Two more versions were released: 550 MHz on May 17,

1999 and 600 MHz on August 2, 1999. On September 27, 1999 Intel released the 533B and 600B running at 533 & 600 MHz respectively.

The 'B' suffix indicated that it featured a 133 MHz FSB, instead of the 100 MHz FSB of previous models.

The second version, Coppermine, or 80526, had an integrated full-speed 256 Kib L2 cache with lower latency and a 256-bit bus, named Advanced Transfer Cache by Intel, which improved performance significantly over Katmai.

It was built on a 0.18 μm process. Pentium III Coppermines running at 500, 533, 550, 600, 650, 667, 700, and 733 MHz were first released on October 25, 1999. From December 1999 to May 2000, Intel released Pentium IIIs running at speeds of 750, 800, 850, 866, 900, 933 and 1000 MHz (1 GHz). Both 100 MHz FSB and 133 MHz FSB models were made.

An additional "B" was later appended to designate 133 MHz FSB models, resulting in an "EB" suffix. 1.13 GHz version was released in mid-2000

It shares with the Coppermine-128 Celeron its 133 MT/s front side bus

A Pentium III Katmai SECC2 cartridge with Heatsink Removed

 A Pentium III Coppermine 866Mhz with thermal paste left.

AMD ATHLON [1999-PRESENT] Athlon Classic launched on June 23, 1999. It showed superior

performance compared to the reigning champion, Pentium III, in every benchmark.

Athlon Classic is a cartridge-based processor. Athlon Classic used a 512 KB secondary cache. This cache, again

like its competitors, ran at a fraction of the core clock rate and had its own 64-bit bus, called a "backside bus" that allowed concurrent system front side bus and cache accesses.

Initially the L2 cache was set for half of the CPU clock speed, on up to 700 MHz Athlon CPUs. Faster Slot-A processors were forced to compromise with cache clock speed and ran at 2/5 (up to 850 MHz) or 1/3 (up to 1 GHz).

The second generation Athlon, the Thunderbird, debuted on June 5, 2000.

It was sold at speeds ranging from 600 MHz to 1400 MHz. The major difference, however, was cache design. Just as Intel had done when they replaced the old Katmai Pentium III with the much faster Coppermine P-III.

AMD replaced the 512 KB external reduced-speed cache of the Athlon Classic with 256 KB of on-chip, full-speed exclusive cache.

AMD kept the 64-bit L2 cache data bus from the older Athlons, as a result, and allowed it to have a relatively high latency.

In October 2000 the Athlon "C" was introduced, raising the mainboard front side bus speed to 133 MHz (266 MT/s) and providing roughly 10% extra performance per clock over the "B" model Thunderbird.

Slot-A Athlon logo on cartridge

Open Athlon Thunderbird slot A cartridge

CELERON II [2000] Just as the Pentium III was a Pentium II with SSE and a

few added features, the Celeron II is simply a Celeron with a SSE, SSE2, and a few added features.

The chip is available from 533 MHz to 1.1 GHz. This chip was basically an enhancement of the original

Celeron. The PSN of the Pentium III had been disabled in the

Celeron II. Celeron II would not be released with true 100 MHz bus

support until the 800MHz edition, which was put out at the beginning of 2001.

DURON [2000]In April of 2000, AMD released the Duron "Spitfire". The original Duron was limited to operating on a 100 MHz fron-side bus speed (FSB 200).while the Athlon at the time could run on a bus clock of 133 MHz (FSB 266). Later Durons supported a 133 MHz bus (FSB 266) while Athlon XP ran at 166/200 MHz FSB (FSB 333/400).In August of 2001, AMD released the Duron "Morgan". This chip broke out at 950 MHz but quickly moved past 1 GHz. The morgan core is with 64 KB of L2

Produced From mid 2000 to 2006

Common manufacturer(s)

AMD

Max CPU clock 600 MHz to 1.8 GHz

FSB speeds 200 MT/s to 266 MT/s

Min feature size

0.18 µm to 0.13 µm

Instruction set x86

Socket(s) Socket A

Core name(s)SpitfireMorgan

Applebred

AMD Duron "Spitfire" CPU

PENTIUM IV [2000-CURRENT] The Pentium 4 brand refers to Intel's line of

single-core mainstream desktop and laptopcentral processing units (CPUs) introduced on November 20, 2000

They had the 7th-generation architecture, called NetBurst, which was the company's first all-new design since 1995, when the Intel P6 architecture of the Pentium Pro CPUs had been introduced.

Netburst achieve very high clock speeds (up to 4 GHz).

In 2004, the initial 32-bit x86 instruction set of the Pentium 4 microprocessors was extended by the 64-bit x86-64 set.

According to Intel, NetBurst is made up of four new technologies: Hyper Pipelined Technology, Rapid Execution Engine, Execution Trace Cache and a 400MHz system bus.

Produced From 2000 to 2008

Common manufacturer(s)

Intel

Max CPU clock 1.3 GHz to 3.8 GHz

FSB speeds 400 MT/s to 1066 MT/s

Min feature size 0.18 µm to 0.065 µm

Instruction setx86 (i386, x86-64, MMX, SSE, SSE2, SSE3

Microarchitecture NetBurst

Socket(s)

Socket 423Socket 478

LGA 775

Core name(s)

WillametteNorthwoodPrescott

Cedar Mill