Processor architecture confusion

NoahT1BM · 02-15-2008, 09:40 PM

This may sound silly to some of you, but what does i[3...6]86 mean?
Is an i686 processor a dual-core CPU? is x86_64 a quad core CPU?
What category would my AMD Athlon XP 2500+ fall under?

Brian1 · 02-15-2008, 09:50 PM

i386 to i686 is the reference to pentium chips. i386 is a 386 chip.
Which these are 32bit processors.
x86_64 is a 64bit processor. It does not mean other than a single cpu
AMD Athlon XP would be a 32bit single processor chip.
AMD Athlon64 would be a 64 bit processor
AMD turion 64 X2 Athlon would be a dual core 64 bit processor.
Search google for your chip or on Athlon site to learn the specs of it.

Brian

Uncle_Theodore · 02-15-2008, 09:53 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by NoahT1BM

This may sound silly to some of you, but what does i[3...6]86 mean?

You can read about it here
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/X86_architecture

Quote:

Is an i686 processor a dual-core CPU? is x86_64 a quad core CPU?

Not quite. Processors above Petntium II are commonly referred to as i686. Modern dual-core CPUs are different in that they have two cores, each of which is either x86 or x86_64. The latter is what is called the 64-bit architecture.

Quote:

What category would my AMD Athlon XP 2500+ fall under?

i686.

pixellany · 02-15-2008, 10:15 PM

So, the bread crumbs will lead us to the original 8086, which begat the 80286, 80386, etc....At some point they got lazy and dropped the "80" part.

But what about the lowly 6502? or the Z80? Let's have some equal time here....

H_TeXMeX_H · 02-16-2008, 06:32 AM

Basic layout:

Code:

Processor				Architecture	Year Production Started
Intel 8086, Intel 8088			i086		1978
Intel 80186, Intel 80188, NEC V20	i186		1982
Intel 80286				i286		1982
Intel386, AMD Am386			i386		1985
Intel486				i486		1989
Pentium, Pentium MMX			i586		1993
Pentium Pro, II, III, IV, M,		i686		1995
	,AMD K5, K6, Athlon (XP)
Prescott, Intel Core (2) (Quad)		x86_64		2003
	Athlon 64, AMD Phenom

synopsis of: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/X86_architecture

Pentium is latin for 'fifth' therefore it means i586 (fifth generation Intel) this was done by Intel because they failed to sue AMD as numbers (such as 386, 486 etc.) cannot be trademarked. Thus, Pentium II is Pentium + 1 = i686. Really everything after and including the Pentium Pro is considered i686 (at least by the gcc compiler). As for x86_64, this is a 64 bit architecture first developed by AMD (Athlon 64), it is designed to be x86 compatible.