From 1993 To 1997: Sockets 4, 5 And 7 Platforms For AMD And Intel

1993: Socket 4 For The First Pentium

During 1993 and 1994, not only were the first 486 PC systems sold (AMD/Intel), but also the first Pentium computers. Frequently buyers would stand in line before the shops opened in order to grab one of the top offers from the advertising fliers. Not infrequently, the goods were sold out within just a few minutes. The market grew in double-digit percentages. Many small firms sprang up like mushrooms and began to assemble PCs and sell them under an imaginative label. 486DX 100 systems were offered at the same price as Pentium 60 PCs. The magic price point was between about $1,000 and $1,500.

From the first, the new Intel Pentium 60 prompted negative headlines: Under certain circumstances, an FDIV division error occurred that caused Intel a lot of problems.

Socket 4, presented in 1993, was finally developed for two processors: the Intel Pentium 60 and the Pentium 66. The lower-speed version worked at a 30 MHz system speed and, compared with the fast 486 CPUs, was considerably slower. On the other hand, the Pentium 66 was rather functional - but many users bought more clock speed for the same money (even then!) and reached for the 486DX 100.