As was mentioned earlier, the older P6 architecture was released back in 1995. Up to 2002,
the Pentium III processors were sold alongside the Pentium 4. That means, in practise, that
Intel’s sixth CPU generation has lasted 7 years.
Similarly, we may expect this seventh generation Pentium 4 to dominate the market for a
number of years. The processors may still be called Pentium 4, but it comes in al lot
varietes.

A mayor modification comes with the version using 0.65 micron process technology. It will
open for higher clock frequencies, but there will also be a number of other improvements.Hyper-Threading Technology is a very exciting structure, which can be briefly outlined as
follows: In order to exploit the powerful pipeline in the Pentium 4, it has been permitted to
process two threads at the same time. Threads are series of software instructions. Normal
processors can only process one thread at a time.

In servers, where several processors are installed in the same motherboard (MP systems),
several threads can be processed at the same time. However, this requires that the
programs be set up to exploit the MP system, as discussed on page 31.

The new thing is that a single Pentium 4 logically can function as if there physically were
two processors in the PC. The processor core (with its long pipelines) is simply so powerful
that it can, in many cases, act as two processors. It’s a bit like one person being able to
carry on two independent telephone conversations at the same time

.

The Pentium 4 is ready for MP functions

Hyper-Threading works very well in Intel’s Prescott-versions of Pentium 4. You gain
performance when you operate more than one task at the time. If you have two programsworking simultaneously, both putting heavy pressure on the CPU, you will benefit from thistechnology. But you need a MP-compatible operating system (like Windows XPProfessional) to benefit from it.
The next step in this evolution is the production of dual-core processors. AMD produces
Opteron chips which hold two processors in one chip. Intel is working on dual core versions
of the Pentium 4 (with the codename ”Smithfield”). These chips will find use in servers and
high performance pc’s. A dual core Pentium 4 with Hyper-Threading enabled will in fact
operate as a virtual
Opteron chips which hold two processors in one chip. Intel is working on dual core versions
of the Pentium 4 (with the codename ”Smithfield”). These chips will find use in servers and
high performance pc’s. A dual core Pentium 4 with Hyper-Threading enabled will in fact
operate as a virtual quad-core processor.

A dual core processor with Hyper Threading

operates as virtual quadprocessor.

Intel also produces EE-versions of the Pentium 4. EE is for Extreme Edition, and these
processors are extremely speedy versions carrying 2 MB of L2 cache.
In late 2004 Intel changed the socket design of the Pentium 4. The new processors have no
”pins”; they connect directly to the socket using little contacts in the processor surface.

processors are extremely speedy versions carrying 2 MB of L2 cache.In late 2004 Intel changed the socket design of the Pentium 4. The new processors have no”pins”; they connect directly to the socket using little contacts in the processor surface.