Pentium

2 definitions found

From Jargon File (4.3.1, 29 Jun 2001) [jargon]:

  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'.
  
  

From The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing (27 SEP 03) [foldoc]:

  Pentium
       
           {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}.
       
          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].
       
          (1997-11-21)