i686 vs i386
 

I am not sure what the difference is
I have a intel p4 2.48 with 512 fsb and ht

is that a 386 class or 686 class?

Search.... This question was asked several times recently. Your p4 is like a 886 or something (>686, so don't worry).

I did search i always do
But the commonality of i386 and i686 returned over ten pages of results

At that point its easier just to ask

thanks for the answer btw

should be my nickname.... :D .... just kidding. our pc normally are i386 systems.

i386 - 80386 CPU
i486 - 80486 CPU
i586 - Pentium I CPU
i686 - Pentium MMX and above CPU.

Intel Processor architectures are downward compatable so an i386 compiled kernel will work on any processor. An i586 compiled kernel will only work on Pentium CPU's i.e PI,II,III and P4's

Some distros only release an i386 kernel. If you want to optimize it for your CPU you will have to recompile the kernel.