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Intel 80386 - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Intel 80386 is a microprocessor which was used as the central processing unit (CPU) of many personal computers from 1986 until 1994 and later. During its design phase the processor was code-named simply “P3″, the third-generation processor in the x86 line, but was and is frequently referred to as the i386. Designed and manufactured by Intel, the i386 processor was taped-out in October of 1985. Intel decided against producing the chip before that date, as the cost of production would have been uneconomical. Full-function chips were first delivered to customers in 1986. Motherboards for 386-based computer systems were highly elaborate and expensive to produce, but were rationalized upon the 386’s mainstream adoption.

The 386 was the first x86 to have a 32-bit architecture. This is an architecture whose use continued for more than a decade, until the introduction of x64, which features a 64-bit architecture.

The first personal computer to make use of the 386 was designed and manufactured by Compaq[1], and Andy Grove, Intel’s CEO at the time, made the decision to single-source the processor, decisions that were ultimately crucial to both the processor’s and Intel’s success in the market.

Because of the high degree of compatibility, the range of processors compatible with the 80386 is often collectively termed the i386 architecture; the instruction set for the architecture is now known as IA-32 or, informally, i386.

In May 2006 Intel announced that production of the 386 would cease at the end of September 2007. [2] Although it had long been obsolete as a personal computer CPU, Intel had continued to manufacture the chip for embedded systems.

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