On October 19, 1992, Intel announced that the fifth generation of its compatible microprocessor line (code-named P5) would be named the Pentium processor rather than the 586, as everybody had been assuming.

On October 19, 1992, Intel announced that the fifth generation of its compatible microprocessor line (codenamed P5) would be named the Pentium processor rather than the 586, as everybody had assumed.

Intel P6 (686) Sixth-Generation Processors. The P6 (686) processors represent a new generation with features not found in the previous generation units. The P6 processor family began when the Pentium Pro was released in November 1995.

Intel P6 (686) Sixth-Generation Processors The P6 (686) processors represent a new generation with features not found in the previous generation units. The P6 processor family began when the Pentium Pro was released in November 1995.

Intel Pentium 4 (Seventh-Generation) Processors. The Pentium 4 was introduced in November 2000 and represented a new generation in processors (see Figure 3.60). If this one had a number instead of a name, it might be called the 786 because it represents a generation beyond the previous 686 class processors.

The Intel 80386 (usually abbreviated as 386) caused quite a stir in the PC industry because of the vastly improved performance it brought to the personal computer. Compared with 8088 and 286 systems, the 386 chip offered greater performance in almost all areas of operation.

Intel's 945 series, 955X and 975X desktop chipsets, and E7230 workstation chipset are the first Intel chipsets to support these processors. The nForce 4 series from NVIDIA also works with these processors.

The Intel 80286 (normally abbreviated as 286) processor did not suffer from the compatibility problems that damned the 80186 and 80188. The 286 chip, first introduced in 1982, is the CPU behind the original IBM PC AT (Advanced Technology).

Any hardware or software that works on Intel-based PCs will work on PCs made with these third-party CPU chips. A number of companies currently offer Intel-compatible chips, and I will discuss some of the most popular ones here.

Intel marketed the 486SX as being the ideal chip for new computer buyers, because fewer entry-level programs of that day used math-coprocessor functions. The 486SX was normally available in 16, 20, 25, and 33MHz-rated speeds, and there was also a …