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x86 facts for kids

Kids Encyclopedia Facts


x86 is a term used to describe a CPU instruction set compatible with the Intel 8086 and its successors, including the Pentium and others made by Intel and other companies. This is the CPU architecture used in most desktop and laptop computers. Many 21st century workstations and servers also use x86 processors. In 1985, the original 16 bit x86 architecture was extended to 32 bits with the introduction of the i386 processor. It was extended again to 64 bits in 2003 with the introduction of the AMD Opteron processor.

Intel adopted the 64-bit computing bit architecture in 2004 with the later versions of the Prescott Pentium 4. The different versions are backward-compatible, meaning that a 32-bit x86 CPU can run a 32-bit or 16-bit operating system, and a 64-bit x86 CPU can run a 16, 32, or 64-bit operating system. All x86 CPUs (with the rare exception of some Intel CPUs used in embedded systems) start in 16-bit real mode. A modern operating system (or sometimes the bootloader) switches the CPU into 32-bit protected mode or 64-bit long mode before booting the kernel.

List of x86 CPUs

16 bit

  • 8086
  • 8088
  • 80186
  • 80286

32 bit Intel

  • i386 (80386)
  • i486 (80486)
  • Pentium
  • Pentium Pro
  • Pentium 2 (or II)
  • Pentium 3 (or III)
  • Older versions of the Pentium 4
  • Pentium M
  • Core
  • Older Xeon
  • Mobile versions of Intel Atom
  • Older Celeron

64-bit Intel

  • Newer Prescott Pentium 4
  • Pentium D
  • Core 2
  • Core i3, i5, i7, and i9
  • Newer Atom
  • Pentium dual core
  • Newer Celeron
  • Newer Xeon

32-bit AMD

  • AMD386
  • AMD486
  • AMD586
  • Am5x86-P75 (actually a 486 CPU)
  • K5
  • K6/K6-II/K6-III
  • Athlon
  • Athlon XP
  • Duron
  • Sempron
  • Geode

64-bit AMD

  • Opteron
  • Athlon 64
  • Phenom
  • Phenom 2
  • FX
  • Sempron
  • APU A4/A6/A8/A10/A12
  • APU Athlon
  • APU Sempron
  • Ryzen
  • Epyc

Others

  • Cyrix 386/486S/DLC, 5x86, 6x86, MII, MIII (32-bit)
  • IDT Winchip (32-bit)
  • Rise (32-bit)
  • NxGen (32-bit)
  • Via C3 and C7 (32-bit)
  • Via Nano (64-bit)

x86 Operating Systems

Operating systems in magenta run only on x86 processors. Operating systems in blue originated on x86 but have since been made for other processors as well. Operating systems in orange did not originate on x86 and were ported to x86.

Images for kids

  • KL Intel D8086

    The x86 architectures were based on the Intel 8086 microprocessor chip, initially released in 1978.

  • Slot-A Athlon

    AMD Athlon (early version), a technically different but fully compatible x86 implementation

  • Am386SXL-25cropped

    Am386, released by AMD in 1991

See also

Kids robot.svg In Spanish: X86 para niños