X86

From WE Computers Museum
X86.png
x86
Developer Intel
Publisher Intel
Platforms 16-bit, 32-bit, 64-bit
Released 1978-present
Added to
Museum
as noted below

x86 is a family of architectures developed by Intel.

It was named after the 8086, which in turn was a 16-bit variant of Intel's 8080 microprocessor.

The 16-bit and 32-bit microprocessors in the X86 family were commonly referred to as IBM PC compatible. As a result, computers that run on the x86 architecture are commonly known as PCs.

16-bit microprocessors

Title Released Notes
8086, 8088, 80186, 80188 1978-1982 First generation.
80286 1982 Second generation. Used in the IBM AT 5170.

32-bit microprocessors (IA-32)

Title Released Notes
i386 1985 Third generation. Originally released as 80386.
i486 1989 Fourth generation. Also known as 80486.
Pentium 1993 Fifth generation. Also known as P5. The WEC Museum owns a 133Mhz Pentium.
Pentium II 1997 Sixth generation. Also known as P6.
Pentium III 1999 Seventh generation.
Pentium 4 2000 Eighth generation. Some 64-bit Pentium 4 chips are also available.
Pentium M 2003 Ninth generation. 32-bit chip for mobile devices.
Yonah 2006 Tenth generation. 32-bit Pentium Dual-Core chip.

64-bit microprocessors (x86-64)

Title Released Notes
Pentium D 2005 Ninth generation. 64-bit chip for desktop devices.
Pentium Dual-Core 2006 Tenth generation. The 32-bit version is codenamed Yonah.
3rd generation Intel Core i7 2012 The WEC Museum owns a Mac Mini that contains a 3rd generation Intel Core i7.
4th generation Intel Core i5 2014 The WEC Museum owns a MacBook Air that contains a 4th generation Intel Core i5.