computer architectures

[john2k]

Can anyone explain the difference between i386, i486, i586, i686, x86, etc...? Or if anyone knows of a website that explains these please post a link. Thanks.

 

[JTY]

All of those CPUs you mentioned are part of the x86 architecture.

Here's some x86 info: http://www.tweak3d.net/articles/x86/

Other CPU families include the Alpha, MIPS, SPARC, PowerPC, etc.

 

[john2k]

Thanks for posting the link. I read the article & it was very informative. So my understanding now is that...

i386 = 386 processors
i486 = 486 processors

i586 = Pentium processors ?? I'm not sure if this includes all Pentium processors... Does this include Celerons, Athlons, Athlon XP & Durons?

i686 = ??? Xeon processors? Would that include P2, P3 & P4 Xeons? And AMD Opterons?

 

[FreiDOg]

just to define the laest few (becaue the article JTY gives goes by name, not architecture)
586 = Pentium, Pentium MMX (P5, P54C and P55C cores)
686 = Pentium Pro, PII, PIII (and their associated Celeron and Xeon variants.
786 'Netburst' = P4.