Product Code Database
The Pentium is a discontinued series of x86 architecture-compatible produced by Intel from 1993 to 2023. The original Pentium was Intel's fifth generation processor, succeeding the i486; Pentium was Intel's flagship processor line for over a decade until the introduction of the Intel Core line in 2006. Pentium-branded processors released from 2009 onwards were considered mid-range budget products positioned above the entry-level Intel Atom and Celeron series, but below the faster Core lineup and workstation/server Xeon series.
The later Pentiums, which have little more than their name in common with earlier Pentiums, were based on both the architecture used in Atom and that of Core processors. In the case of Atom architectures, Pentiums were the highest performance implementations of the architecture. Pentium processors with Core architectures prior to 2017 were distinguished from the faster, higher-end i-series processors by lower and disabling some features, such as hyper-threading, Intel VT and sometimes L3 CPU cache. In 2017, the Pentium brand was split up into two separate lines using the Pentium name: Pentium Silver, aiming for low-power devices using the Atom and Celeron architectures; and Pentium Gold, aiming for entry-level desktop and using existing architectures such as Kaby Lake or Coffee Lake.
In September 2022, Intel announced that the Pentium and Celeron brands were to be replaced with the new "Intel Processor" branding for low-end processors from 2023 onwards.
The original Pentium-branded CPUs were expected to be named 586 or i586, to follow the naming convention of prior generations (286, i386, i486). However, as the firm wanted to prevent their competitors from branding their processors with similar names (as AMD had done with their Am486), Intel filed a trademark application on the name in the United States, but was denied because a series of numbers was considered to lack trademark distinctiveness. Instead, they would name their processors as "Pentium" rather than using numbers, which Andrew Grove wanted to trademark that generation processor.Intel Corporation, "NewsBits: Intel Unveils Name Of Fifth-Generation Processor", Microcomputer Solutions, November/December 1992, page 1
Following Intel's prior series of 8086, 80186, 80286, 80386, and 80486 microprocessors, the firm's first P5-based processor was released as the original Intel Pentium on March 22, 1993. Marketing firm Lexicon Branding was hired to coin a name for the new processor. The suffix -ium was chosen as it could connote a fundamental ingredient of a computer, like a chemical element, while the prefix pent- could refer to the fifth generation of x86.
Due to its success, the Pentium brand would continue through several generations of high-end processors. In 2006, the name briefly disappeared from Intel's technology roadmaps, only to re-emerge in 2007.
In 1998, Intel introduced the Celeron brand for low-priced processors. With the 2006 introduction of the Intel Core brand as the company's new flagship line of processors, the Pentium series was to be discontinued. However, due to a demand for mid-range dual-core processors, the Pentium brand was repurposed to be Intel's mid-range processor series, between the Celeron and Core series, continuing with the Pentium Dual-Core line.
In 2009, the "Dual-Core" suffix was dropped, and new x86 processors started carrying the plain Pentium name again.
In 2014, Intel released the Pentium 20th Anniversary Edition, to mark the 20th anniversary of the Pentium brand. These processors are unlocked and highly overclockable. From 2015 onwards, the "20th Anniversary Edition" wordmark was dropped from the name, branding it simply as the Pentium.
In 2017, Intel split the Pentium branding into two line-ups. Pentium Silver targets low-power devices and shares architecture with Atom and Celeron, while Pentium Gold targets entry-level desktops and uses existing architecture, such as Kaby Lake and Coffee Lake.
In September 2022, Intel announced that the Pentium and Celeron brands were to be replaced with the new "Intel Processor" branding for low-end processors in laptops from 2023 onwards. This applied to desktops using Pentium and Celeron processors as well, and both brands were discontinued in 2023 in favor of "Intel Processor" branded processors.
| +Intel Pentium processor family | |
| Merom-2M (65 nm) | |
| Arrandale (32 nm) | |
| Braswell; Goldmont | |
| Goldmont Plus (Gemini Lake) | |
| Comet Lake (14 nm) |
| March 1993 |
| October 1994 |
| June 1995 |
| January 1997 |
| August 1997 |
Versions of these processors for the laptop market were initially named Mobile Pentium II and Mobile Pentium III, later versions were named Pentium III-M. Starting with the Pentium II, the Celeron brand was used for low-end versions of most Pentium processors with a reduced feature set such as a smaller cache or missing power management features.
| November 1995 |
| May 1997 |
| January 1998 |
| April 1998 |
| January 1999 |
| February 1999 |
| October 1999 |
| July 2001 |
The Pentium D was the first multi-core Pentium, integrating two Pentium 4 chips in one package and was available as the enthusiast Pentium Extreme Edition.
| Willamette | 180 nm | 1.3–2.0 GHz | 256 KB | 400 MT/s | Socket 423, Socket 478 | November 2000 |
| Northwood | 130 nm | 1.6–3.4 GHz | 512 KB | 400 MT/s–800 MT/s | Socket 478 | January 2002 |
| November 2003 | ||||||
| 1 MB | 533 MT/s–800 MT/s | Socket 478, LGA 775 | February 2004 | |||
| February 2005 | ||||||
| January 2006 |
| May 2005 |
| May 2005 |
| January 2006 |
| January 2006 |
| March 2003 |
| June 2004 |
| January 2007 |
| Q4 2007 |
| June 2007 |
| August 2008 |
| May 2009 |
| January 2009 |
| September 2009 |
| May 2009 |
| 2 MB |
| E6xxx |
| 10 W |
In 2009, Intel changed the naming system for Pentium processors, renaming the Wolfdale-3M based processors to Pentium, without the Dual-Core name, and introduced new single- and dual-core processors based on Penryn under the Pentium name.
The Penryn core is the successor to the Merom core and Intel's 45 nm version of their mobile series of Pentium processors. The FSB frequency is increased from 667 MHz to 800 MHz, and the voltage is lowered. Intel released the first Penryn Core, the Pentium T4200, in December 2008. In June 2009, Intel released the first single-core processor to use the Pentium name, a Consumer Ultra-Low Voltage (CULV) Penryn core named Pentium SU2700.
In September 2009, Intel introduced the Pentium SU4000 series together with the Celeron SU2000 and Core 2 Duo SU7000 series, which are dual-core CULV processors based on Penryn-3M and using 800 MHz FSB. The Pentium SU4000 series has 2 MB L2 cache but is otherwise basically identical to the other two lines.
| January 2010 |
| Q2 2010 |
| 18 W |
On January 7, 2010, Intel launched a new Pentium model using the Clarkdale chip in parallel with other desktop and mobile CPUs based on their new Westmere microarchitecture. The first model in this series is the Pentium G6950. The Clarkdale chip is also used in the Core i3-5xx and Core i5-6xx series and features a 32 nm process (as it is based on the Westmere microarchitecture), integrated memory controller and 45 nm graphics controller and a third-level cache. In the Pentium series, some features of Clarkdale are disabled, including AES-NI, hyper-threading (versus Core i3), and the graphics controller in the Pentium runs at 533 MHz, while in the Core i3 i3-5xx series they run at 733 MHz, and Dual Video Decode that enables Blu-ray picture-in picture hardware acceleration, and support for Deep Color and xvYCC. The memory controller in the Pentium supports DDR3-1066 max, the same as the Core i3 i3-5xx series. The L3 cache is also 1 MB less than in the Core i3-5xx series.
| Integrated GPU |
| Integrated GPU |
| Integrated GPUe |
| 65 W |
| 3 MB, 12-way set associative, 64 byte line size |
| ECC, AVX, TXT, Intel VT-d, AES-NI |
| w/o hyper-threading |
Integrated graphics are provided by Intel HD Graphics 510, utilizing a maximum of 1.7 GB of memory, for resolutions up to 4096×2304 @ 60 Hz using Display Port supporting up to 3 displays.
Skylake-based Pentium processors are the last Intel processors made under the Pentium brand on which Windows earlier than Windows 10 are officially supported by Microsoft, although enthusiast-created modding are available that disabled the Windows Update check and allowed Windows 8.1 and earlier to continue to receive on this and later platforms.
All Comet Lake Pentium Gold processors support Hyper-threading and integrated Intel UHD Graphics.
| Q2 2020 (refresh Q1 2021) |
| Q4 2019 |
| As above; minor frequency refresh |
| Low-power T variants; integrated GPU; DDR4-2666 |
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