Hardware Reference
In-Depth Information
systems. Because it is easier for most people to update Windows than to update the mother-
boardBIOS,itseemsthatmorerecentmicrocodeupdatesarebeingdistributedviaMicrosoft
than the motherboard manufacturers.
Processor Code Names
Intel, AMD, and VIA have always used code names when talking about future processors
and processor cores. The code names usually are not supposed to become public, but they
often do. They can often be found in online and print news and magazine articles talking
about future-generation processors. Sometimes they even appear in motherboard manuals
because the manuals are written before the processors are officially introduced.
Intelpublishesafairlycompletelistofprocessor,chipset,motherboard,andevenEthernet
controller code names on its website (
http://ark.intel.com/#codenames
)
. AMD doesn't
provide a single document on its site for its code names, but you can use a Google search
such as “code name”
site:amd.com
to find documents on the AMD website that contain
code names. You can also find information on other sites by doing a search.
P1 (086) Processors
Intel introduced the 8086 back in June 1978. The 8086 was one of the first 16-bit pro-
cessor chips on the market; at the time, virtually all other processors were 8-bit designs.
The 8086 had 16-bit internal registers and could run a new class of software using 16-bit
instructions. It also had a 16-bit external data path, so it could transfer data to memory 16
bitsatatime.Itcontained29,000transistorsandcouldrunatclockspeedsofupto5MHz.
The address bus was 20 bits wide, which enabled the 8086 to address a full 1MB (2
20
) of
memory. This was in stark contrast to most other chips of that time that had 8-bit internal
registers, an8-bitexternal databus,anda16-bitaddressbusallowing amaximum ofonly
64KB of RAM (2
16
).
Although not directly backward compatible with the 8080, the 8086 instructions and lan-
guage were similar and enabled older programs to quickly be ported over to run. This
later proved important to help jump-start the PC software revolution with recycled CP/M
(8080) software.
Unfortunately,mostofthepersonalcomputerworldatthetimewasusing8-bitprocessors,
which ran 8-bit CP/M (Control Program for Microprocessors) OSs and software. The
board and circuit designs at the time were largely 8-bit as well. Building a full 16-bit
motherboard, expansion cards, and memory system was costly, pricing such a computer
out of the market.
