Pentium D

Pentium D is a range of desktop 64-bit <a href="/facts/X86-64/cyWvUFlP">x86-64</a> processors based on the <a href="/facts/NetBurst/QIkVG48W">NetBurst</a> microarchitecture, which is the <a href="/facts/Multi-core_processor/ABNb65hQ">dual-core</a> variant of the <a href="/facts/Pentium_4/6tIFuHIF">Pentium 4</a> manufactured by <a href="/facts/Intel/SMF0gJJX">Intel</a>. Each <a href="/facts/CPU/Jxp1bqMV">CPU</a> comprised two cores. The brand's first processor, codenamed Smithfield and manufactured on the <a href="/facts/90_nm_process/mmjMro9E">90 nm process</a>, was released on May 25, 2005, followed by the <a href="/facts/65_nm/yqoIVRgR">65 nm</a> Presler nine months later. The core implementation on the 90 nm Smithfield and later 65 nm Presler are designed differently but are functionally the same. The 90 nm Smithfield contains a single <a href="/facts/Die_(integrated_circuit)/XWvdlltE">die</a>, with two adjoined but functionally separate CPU cores cut from the same <a href="/facts/Wafer_(electronics)/lCBJAoUL">wafer</a>. The later 65 nm Presler utilized a <a href="/facts/Multi-chip_module/AzyVaNNp">multi-chip module</a> package, where two discrete dies each containing a single core reside on the CPU substrate. Neither the 90 nm Smithfield nor the 65 nm Presler were capable of direct core to core communication, relying instead on the <a href="/facts/Northbridge_(computing)/XFbfH4Kl">northbridge</a> link to send information between the two cores.
By 2004, the NetBurst processors reached a <a href="/facts/Clock_speed/w055Woaj">clock speed</a> barrier at 3.8 GHz due to a thermal (and power) limit exemplified by the Presler's 130 watt <a href="/facts/Thermal_design_power/Idcy26tM">thermal design power</a> (a higher TDP requires additional cooling that can be prohibitively noisy or expensive). The future belonged to more energy efficient and slower clocked <a href="/facts/Dual-core/ABNb65hQ">dual-core</a> CPUs on a single die instead of two. However, the Pentium D did not offer significant upgrades in design, still resulting in relatively high power consumption.
The final shipment date of the dual die Presler chips was August 8, 2008, which marked the end of the Pentium D brand and also the NetBurst microarchitecture. The Pentium D line was removed from the official price lists on July 13, 2010.

Pentium D open-in-new

Pentium D