Pentium II
Pentium II
Pentium II is the second generation of the Intel Pentium microprocessor, featuring an improved MMX instruction set and a three-chip architecture for enhanced performance. It was introduced in 1997 and was the first processor to use a 32-bit data bus.
What does Pentium II mean?
Pentium II, also known as P6, was a microprocessor manufactured by Intel and released in May 1997. It was the successor to the Pentium Pro processor and was marketed as an entry-level and mainstream processor for personal computers. Pentium II was based on the P6 microarchitecture, which introduced several new features and improvements over its predecessor, including:
- A dual-issue superscalar design, which allowed the processor to execute two Instructions per clock cycle.
- A larger on-die cache, which reduced the latency of memory accesses.
- Support for MMX instructions, which were designed to accelerate Multimedia and 3D graphics applications.
Pentium II was available in a Range of clock speeds, from 233MHz to 450MHz. It was also available in two different package sizes: the Socket 7 and the Slot 1. The Socket 7 package was used with motherboards that supported the Pentium II, while the Slot 1 package was used with motherboards that supported the Pentium Pro.
Pentium II was a significant upgrade over the Pentium Pro processor and was widely used in personal computers at the time. It was particularly popular for gaming and multimedia applications, thanks to its support for MMX instructions.
Applications
Pentium II was used in a wide range of applications, including:
- Personal computers
- Laptops
- Workstations
- Servers
Pentium II was particularly well-suited for applications that required high performance, such as gaming, multimedia, and 3D graphics. It was also used in entry-level and mainstream servers, where its high performance and low cost made it a good Value for money.
History
Pentium II was developed by Intel in the mid-1990s. It was based on the P6 microarchitecture, which was designed by a team led by Mike Johnson. The P6 microarchitecture was a major departure from the P5 microarchitecture used in the Pentium Pro processor. It featured a dual-issue superscalar design, a larger on-die cache, and support for MMX instructions.
Pentium II was released in May 1997 and was a significant upgrade over the Pentium Pro processor. It was widely used in personal computers and was particularly popular for gaming and multimedia applications. Pentium II was also used in entry-level and mainstream servers.
The Pentium II was succeeded by the Pentium III processor in 1999. Pentium III was based on the P6 microarchitecture, but featured a number of improvements over Pentium II, including:
- A larger on-die cache
- Support for Streaming SIMD Extensions (SSE) instructions
- A higher clock speed
Pentium III was a significant upgrade over Pentium II and was used in a wide range of applications, including personal computers, laptops, workstations, and servers.