The Intel Pentium III FC-PGA 933MHz
Technology continues to grow at an exponential rate with new products coming
out on the market every day. These products can be specialized hardware or
even software, though hardware probably gets the most attention in the media.
Generally, when we speak of computer hardware, we think of the main components
and what generally comes to mind is the central processing unit (CPU). A processor
is the logic circuitry that responds to and processes the basic instructions
that drive a computer. The term processor has generally replaced the term
CPU (central processing unit). The processor in a personal computer
or that is embedded in small devices is often called a microprocessor
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Features
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The
processor
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- 242-pin Slot-1
GTL
- CPU interface
running at 133MHz
- 256-bit Advanced
Transfer Cache
- 256KB on-die
L2 cache running at core speed
- 1.65v core voltage
- Advanced System
Buffering
- 0.18-micron
Coppermine core
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A microprocessor is also sometimes called a logic
chip. It is the "engine" that goes into motion when you turn your computer
on. A microprocessor is designed to perform arithmetic and logic operations
that make use of small number-holding areas called registers. Typical
microprocessor operations include adding, subtracting, comparing two numbers,
and fetching numbers from one area to another.
Intel introduced the Pentium III on the 26th of February 1999. It was released
with the core name KATMAI and was built on the 0.25-Micron process. On that
day, they claimed that they introduced the fastest processor on the market
for the personal computer. Their first products in this line were released
at 450Mhz and 500Mhz, which was followed by the 550Mhz a month later. Since
the earlier Pentium II chips were also built on the 0.25-micron process what
distinguished the Katmai was a set of 70 new multimedia instructions, known
as ‘SSE’ (streaming SIMD extensions). With these new features Intel chose
to re-baptize the Pentium II to Pentium III.
A flashback
In October 1998 at the Microprocessor Forum in San Jose, California, the
first presentation of Athlon was made and some very interesting information
was revealed. Probably the biggest one was the 200Mhz bus speed that the Athlon
was slated to run on. Many were already wondering, and giving their personal
theories online, on the upcoming processor.
Then in 1999 AMD released the long-awaited Athlon CPU. The Katmai core had
problems following the Athlon, and even the "B" revision of the Pentium III
Katmai couldn’t catch up with the Athlon. This was probably Intel’s scariest
moment. But they never gave up, as we say, competition helps! A few weeks
later, Intel finally released the long awaited Coppermine core, which was
supposed to ship in September 1999, but was delayed by a few months which
comes to the 25th October 1999. This was the first Intel CPU running on a
.18 micron process and having over 29 million transistors, and Intel finally
had something to compete with the Athlon, even without running it on the delayed
i820 - i840 Chipsets. The Pentium III processors, based on the Coppermine
core, became a strong performer to the Athlon with benchmark scores to prove
it.
