x86 processor?

[iggybaseball]

what do people mean when they say an x86 proc and what other versions are there an what is it for?

 

[Ottoman]

x86 is the whole architecture..

like 8088 80286 80386 80486 etc...
intel stopped that naming system when they hit intel because of copyright limitations...

other types include RISC processors (Reduced Instruction Set Calculations) or something, there's Motorolla's proc for the mac and the crays and higher end stuff...


x86 is probably one of the worst designed ones... it was just succesful marketing and strategy between intel and M$ that made them catch on...

 

[repo man11]

He meant when they hit Pentium. Other manufacturers started calling their chips 586's, and the courts ruled that Intel couldn't copyright 586, so they used the greek word for 5 instead.

 

[iggybaseball]

oh so anything after a pentium is a x86 proc? like a duron or an xp? also what does it mean if its .13 micron?

 

[repo man11]

All of the PC CPU's are x86, x standing for 8086, 286, 486, the same as Win9x covers Windows 95, 98 and 98se. As Ottoman said, it is the underlying architecture of these CPU's. Once Intel started marketing their CPU's by name instead of numeric designation, everyone else followed suit. The micron size refers to the process used to cut the transistors into the silicon wafer that is the heart of the CPU. The smaller the micron size, the more transistors can be cut into it, resulting in many improvements, such as cooler running. With the Pentium 75 in 1994, Intel were using 0.6 micron process technology, which allows 21,000 lines per inch. We've come a long way!

 

[dreadlord79]

Accually, the x86 architecture has been around since it was introduced as 8086 as then went on to the 2x86, 3x86, 4x86, 5x86, and was used to a limited extent in the 6x86 lines.

edit--> Your fast Repo Man11!