what is x86 processor?

Answer 1

x86 or 80x86 is the generic name of a microprocessor architecture first developed and manufactured by Intel. The x86 architecture has dominated the desktop computer, portable computer, and small server markets since the 1980s IBM PC, running primarily versions of Microsoft Windows and Unix variant operating systems. Although more modern architectures such as PowerPC have challenged the x86 as a replacement for many niches, none have so far supplanted the x86 for its core markets.
An Intel Pentium 4 chip; early Northwood build
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An Intel Pentium 4 chip; early Northwood build

The architecture is called x86 because the earliest processors in this family were identified by model numbers ending in the sequence "86": the 8086, the 80186, the 80286, the 386, and the 486. Because one cannot establish trademark rights on numbers, Intel and most of its competitors began to use trademark-acceptable names such as Pentium for subsequent generations of processors, but the earlier naming scheme remains as a term for the entire family.

Minicomputers during the late 1970s were running up against the 16 bit 64k byte address limit as memory became cheaper to install. Most minicomputer companies redesigned their processors to fully handle 32 bits addressing and data. But the Intel 8086 would instead adopt a much criticized stopgap concept of segment registers which effectively raised the memory address limit by 4 bits from 16 bits / 64K to 20 bits / 1 megabyte. Data and code could be managed within "near" 16-bit segments within a larger 1M address space, or a compiler could operate in a "far" mode using both segment and offset. While that limit would also prove to be too small by the mid 1980s, it was ideal for the emerging PC market, and made it very simple to translate software from the older 8080 to the newer processor.

As hardware has evolved, the architecture has twice been extended to a larger word size. In 1985, Intel released the 32-bit 386 to replace the 16-bit 286. The 32-bit architecture is called x86-32 or IA-32 (an abbreviation for Intel Architecture, 32-bit). In 2003, AMD introduced the Athlon 64, which implemented a further extension to the architecture to 64 bits, variously called x86-64, AMD64 (AMD), EM64T or IA-32e (Intel), and x64 (Microsoft), not to be confused with IA-64.

The x86 architecture first appeared inside the Intel 8086 CPU in 1978; the 8086 was a development of the Intel 8080 processor (which itself followed the 4004 and 8008), and programs in 8080 assembler language could be mechanically translated to equivalent programs in 8086 assembler language. It was adopted (in the externally simpler 8-bit bus 8088 version) three years later as the standard CPU of the IBM PC. The ubiquity of the PC platform has resulted in the x86 becoming numerically the most successful CPU architecture ever. (Another successful CPU design, based on an instruction-set compatible at the machine-language binary level with the 8080, is the Zilog Z80 architecture.)

Companies such as Cyrix, NEC Corporation, IBM, IDT and Transmeta have manufactured CPUs conforming to the x86 architecture. The most successful of the clone manufacturers is AMD, whose Athlon series, while not as popular as the Pentium series, has a significant marketshare.

Intel introduced the IA-64, a separate 64-bit architecture used in its Itanium processors and Itanium Processor Family (IPF). IA-64 is a completely new system that bears no resemblance to the x86 architecture, which might affect its marketplace acceptance; it should not be confused with IA-32, which is synonymous with the 32-bit version of x86.

Answer 2

X86 Processor

Answer 3

x86 or 80x86 is the generic name of a microprocessor architecture first developed and manufactured by Intel. The x86 architecture has dominated the desktop computer, portable computer, and small server markets since the 1980s IBM PC, running primarily versions of Microsoft Windows and Unix variant operating systems. Although more modern architectures such as PowerPC have challenged the x86 as a replacement for many niches, none have so far supplanted the x86 for its core markets.


An Intel Pentium 4 chip; early Northwood buildThe architecture is called x86 because the earliest processors in this family were identified by model numbers ending in the sequence "86": the 8086, the 80186, the 80286, the 386, and the 486. Because one cannot establish trademark rights on numbers, Intel and most of its competitors began to use trademark-acceptable names such as Pentium for subsequent generations of processors, but the earlier naming scheme remains as a term for the entire family.

Answer 4

X86 Architecture

Answer 5

It is Processor Series by Intel

x86 series of processors includes the Pentium, Pentium Pro, Pentium II, Pentium III, Celeron, and Athlon as well as the 786, 686, 586, 486, 386, 286, 8086, 8088, etc. It is an exceptionally popular design (by far the most popular CISC series) in spite of the fact that even its fastest model is significantly slower than the assorted RISC processors. Many different OSes run on machines built around x86 processors, including MS-DOS, Windows 3.1, Windows '95, Windows '98, Windows ME, Windows NT, Windows 2000, Windows CE, Windows XP, GEOS, Linux, Solaris, OpenBSD, NetBSD, FreeBSD, Mac OS X, OS/2, BeOS, CP/M, etc. A couple different companies produce x86 processors, but the bulk of them are produced by Intel. It is expected that this processor will eventually be completely replaced by the Merced, but the Merced development schedule is somewhat behind. Also, it should be noted that the Pentium III processor has stirred some controversy by including a "fingerprint" that will enable individual computer usage of web pages etc. to be accurately tracked.

Answer 6

This is the processor that is based on the 86 Intel family. It means there are a series of Intel process that ended with the number 86 and before of this number there is starting from 0,1,2, and x. That is why it called x86 family

Answer 7

thanks I got that this type came from the ''86'' intel processor series, but I still didn't get clearly it can support 64 bits or not?
any of with the specific answer welcome!

Answer 8

it is the intel architecture for pcs

Answer 9

Google is your friend.