March 26, 2026
Press F for 486
What Came After the 486?
From 486 to Pentium: name wars, nostalgia, and chaos
TLDR: After the 486, Intel rolled out the Pentium in 1993, shifting from numbers to a brand name and kicking off a new era of PC marketing and speed. Commenters clash over branding vs. “real” model numbers, relive the chaotic 90s hardware shake-up, and debate Intel vs. AMD’s path to 64‑bit—nostalgia and drama galore.
The retro crowd is losing it over what came after the 486, and the answer is equal parts history lesson and comment-section brawl. The article says Intel ditched numbers and launched the Pentium in 1993—catchy branding to dodge copycats—while touting big speed gains and a now-legendary math glitch, the Pentium FDIV bug. But the comments? That’s where the real show starts.
One camp is screaming marketing vs. math. stevefan1999 jokes it’s the “5‑ium,” insisting geeks still call it “i586” under the hood. Meanwhile, nostalgia hits hard: “I feel ancient,” sighs one commenter, as another confesses their childhood cyberpunk fantasy had everyone flexing “786s.” Then Anonasty slams the era as a total sh*tshow—seven companies cranking out 486s, then the great consolidation to Intel/AMD, plus socket-vs-slot chaos—like hardware musical chairs.
Tensions spike again when rob74 rewinds to the 64‑bit switch: Intel tried a fresh start (Itanium) to leave the past behind, while AMD kept the old x86 language and just made it bigger—sparking a mini flame war over who “saved” the PC. In short: “Pentium” was the brand, “586” was the vibe, and everyone either laughs, cries, or reaches for the ibuprofen. Retro computing never sounded so dramatic.
Key Points
- •Intel’s successor to the 80486 was the Pentium, introduced on March 22, 1993.
- •The Pentium used a faster front side bus and different socket than the 486; a Pentium Overdrive existed for certain 486 sockets but was limited by the 486 bus.
- •A true Pentium delivered about 40% higher performance than a 486 at the same clock speed; early Pentiums ran at 60/66 MHz.
- •Intel later released 486 CPUs up to 100 MHz, while Pentium speeds advanced to 120/133 MHz, topping at 200 MHz (original) and 233 MHz (MMX).
- •Intel adopted the “Pentium” brand (codename P5) instead of numeric naming due to trademark issues, helping it dominate the post-486 market despite the Pentium FDIV bug.