Pentium is a microprocessor based on the x86 architecture, which is the fifth generation developed by Intel. It started shipping on March 22, 1993, and is the successor to the 486 product line. Originally, Pentium was supposed to be named 80586 or i586, but it was later named “Pentium” (which is believed to be a combination of the Greek word for “five” and the Latin suffix “ium” denoting a noun) because Arabic numerals cannot be used as trademarks. The i586 was used in microprocessors similar to the 80586 manufactured by Intel’s competitors. Intel also gave it a pleasant Chinese name, “BenTeng”. The Pentium, coded as P54C, contains as many as 3.1 million transistors, and its clock frequency ranges from the initial 60MHz and 66MHz, up to 200MHz. Even the initial version of the Pentium with a clock speed of 66MHz has a processing performance more than three times higher than the 33MHz 80486DX, while the 100MHz Pentium is 6 to 8 times faster than the 33MHz 80486DX.
