Re: Looking for a list of processor instructions

From: Chewy509 (spamtrap_at_crayne.org)
Date: 08/02/04 

Date: Mon, 2 Aug 2004 09:37:01 +0000 (UTC)

"Matt Taylor" wrote in message...
> "Jim Carlock" wrote in message...
> > Thanks Ivan.
> >
> > Question about the processor names... I'm seeing that Intel CPUs
> > are labeled as follows:
> >
> > P1/P5/Pentium
> > P2
> > P3
> > P4
> > P6
>
> P5 is not to be confused with Pentium or the abbreviations "P2", "P3", and
> "P4" which are commonly used to abbreviate the full product name. The
> original Pentium was called P54C. The Pentium MMX was called P55C. Pentium
> Pro, Pentium-II, and Pentium-III were called P6. The number denoted the
> processor generation.
>
> > Then their is a switch to:
> >
> > Katmai, Williamette and Prescott. I think they got the Prescott
> > name from George Bush's grandfather who funded Adolph Hitler
> > and was a traitor during WWII. :-) What a shame.
>
> Generally there is a naming convention. I don't know what the pattern is,
> but unless Katmai, Coppermine, Willamette, Northwood, Tejas, Nocona, etc.
> were all names of grandfathers of presidents, I would doubt that this is
> where it came from.
>
> > The Katmai, Williamette and Prescott processors... are they ever
> > referred to as P7, P8 and P9 ? It looks like Intel has only gone
> > up to P6. Anyone seeing anything different ?
>
> Apparently Intel is calling Itanic the 7th generation (P7):
>
http://groups.google.com/groups?hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&selm=4lEdc.5720%24px6.80228%40news2.e.nsc.no
>
> They haven't really made an 8th generation processor yet, though Pentium-M
> is supposed to become the next generation (which may or may not be the 8th
> generation). Before that happens, they have to finish milking the NetBurst
> design.
>

The Itanium is nothing like the x86, so it really cannot be called the P7,
(which is what the P-IV should be called). Anyway the Itanium has been
around since the Pentium 2 era, that would would explain the reference to it
as the P7? (If Intel had their way, we all would be running Itaniums now).

The Pentium M is part of the P6 family, (it's based a heavily reworked
Tualatin core with better branch prediction and added SSE2), and the current
generation core is called Banias. The next core Dothan, will also be
marketted as Pentium M, (and is due out shortly or may already be out?). The
Banias core has 1MB of L2 cache, while the Dothan will have 2MB L2 cache
(and will also run at a higher FSB in the near future).

PS. The names shown above are the internal code names for the core designs.
What the public knows as the Pentium 4, has had 4 cores with the names:
Willamette (the original), Northwood (adds Hyper-Threading), Prescott (adds
SSE3) and Gallatin (P4-EE). So geeks will normally refer to the core, rather
than the public name, to ensure that everyone knows which Pentium 4 they are
talking about. (This is really to avoid confusion). www.sandpile.org lists
the core names, within each category.

PPS. With the cancellaton of Tejas (the next Pentium 4 after the current
Prescott), the I think Intel has realised that they can't get any more out
of the Netbust architecture, (which sucked anyway). 

-- 
Chewy509...
Sig: I'm still looking for a new sig?

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