Pentium microprocessors

A 32-bit microprocessor introduced by Intel in 1993.
It contains 3.3 million transistors.
Since 1993, Intel has developed the Pentium III and more recently the Pentium 4 microprocessors.  

Pentium III

Pentium III Mainboard Layout

• Intel builds on the technology it developed with the Pentium II microprocessors. 
• The Pentium III processor comes with a Synchronized Dynamic Random Access Memory (SDRAM), allowing for an extremely fast transfer of data between the microprocessor and the memory.
• 70 new instructions, called Streaming SIMD Extensions, enhance multimedia and 3D performance. 
• Launched February 1999 - Available in speed levels of 450, 500, 550, and 600MHz.
• 32KB of Level 1 Cache (operating at CPU's full core speed).
• 512KB of Level 2 Cache (operating at ½ of CPU's core speed).
• 100 MHz bus speed.
• The branch prediction/recovery pipeline was doubled to include 10-stages from the P-II.  

Pentium IV

• The next generation of microprocessors from Intel.
• Pentium 4 is the product of a serious redesign.
• The move from Pentium II to Pentium III added two million transistors.
• The Pentium 4 is significantly larger than its predecessor. 
• The P4 was first etched using the same .18-micron, aluminum trace process as the P-III Coppermine. 
• The current P4 etching is the .13-micron process 
• Now that the Pentium 4 is upon us the pipeline depth has been doubled once again to 20 stages-NetBurst microarchitecture .
• By doubling the depth of the branch prediction pipe, the penalty associated with mis-predictions is greatly increased. 
• This results in a lower average number of instructions successfully executed per clock cycle.  
• A 32-bit microprocessor, hyper-pipelined technology, a rapid execution engine and a quad-pumped 100MHz-system bus, delivering the equivalent of 3.2GB/s of bandwidth- three times the bandwidth of the Pentium III
• It transfers data at the equivalent of 400MHz bus speed

Pentium 4 Motherboard Layout