Datasheet

34 Chapter 1
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Hardware
A Pentium 4 Extreme Edition was released in 2003. Featuring a dual-core
processor as its biggest modification over the Pentium 4, it was targeted
for the gaming user.
TABLE 1.4 Physical Characteristics of Pentium-Class Processors
Processor Speeds (MHz) Socket Pins Voltage
Pentium-P5 (first
generation)
60–66 4 273 +5V
Pentium-P54C
(second generation)
75–200 5 or 7 296 +3.3V
Pentium-P55C
(third generation)
166–233 7 321 +2.8V
Pentium Pro 150–200 8 387 +3V
Pentium II 233–450 SECC N/A +2.0V–+2.8V
Pentium III 450 –1130 SECC2 or
Socket 370
370 +2.0V
Pentium 4 1300–3000 (at
this writing)
Socket 423 or
Socket 478
423 or 478 +1.53V– +1.75V
INTEL CLONES AND OTHERS
Intel clones are processors that are based on the x86 architecture and are produced by other
vendors; the most notable is AMD. AMD’s competitor to the Pentium II is the K6. The origi-
nal K6 ran at between 166MHz and 300MHz. The K6-2, at 266MHz to 475MHz, added
3DNow! Technology for improved multimedia. The K6-3, at 400MHz to 450MHz, adds a
full-speed L2 cache. Because all the K6 chips are PGA, whereas Pentiums are SECC, you need
a special motherboard for the K6 chips designed specifically for them.
AMD’s competitor to the Pentium III is the Athlon. It uses an SECC-style slot called
Slot A that is physically the same but not pin-compatible with Intel-style Slot 1 SECC.
AMD also has a low-budget version called the Duron that has less L2 cache.
On-Motherboard Cache
On older motherboards, the L2 cache is on its own RAM-like stick made of very fast static
random access memory (SRAM). It’s known as cache on a stick (COAST). On newer sys-
tems, the L2 cache is built into the CPU packaging.
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