Vol. 3A 1-1
CHAPTER 1
ABOUT THIS MANUAL
The Intel® 64 and IA-32 Architectures Software Developer’s Manual, Volume 3A: System Programming Guide,
Part 1 (order number 253668), the Intel® 64 and IA-32 Architectures Software Developer’s Manual, Volume 3B:
System Programming Guide, Part 2 (order number 253669) and the Intel® 64 and IA-32 Architectures Software
Developer’s Manual, Volume 3C: System Programming Guide, Part 3 (order number 326019) are part of a set that
describes the architecture and programming environment of Intel 64 and IA-32 Architecture processors. The other
volumes in this set are:
•
Intel® 64 and IA-32 Architectures Software Developer’s Manual, Volume 1: Basic Architecture (order number
253665).
•
Intel® 64 and IA-32 Architectures Software Developer’s Manual, Volumes 2A, 2B, 2C & 2D: Instruction Set
Reference (order numbers 253666, 253667, 326018 and 334569).
The Intel® 64 and IA-32 Architectures Software Developer’s Manual, Volume 1, describes the basic architecture
and programming environment of Intel 64 and IA-32 processors. The Intel® 64 and IA-32 Architectures Software
Developer’s Manual, Volumes 2A, 2B, 2C & 2D, describe the instruction set of the processor and the opcode struc-
ture. These volumes apply to application programmers and to programmers who write operating systems or exec-
utives. The Intel® 64 and IA-32 Architectures Software Developer’s Manual, Volumes 3A, 3B, 3C & 3D, describe
the operating-system support environment of Intel 64 and IA-32 processors. These volumes target operating-
system and BIOS designers. In addition, Intel® 64 and IA-32 Architectures Software Developer’s Manual, Volume
3B, and Intel® 64 and IA-32 Architectures Software Developer’s Manual, Volume 3C address the programming
environment for classes of software that host operating systems.
1.1 INTEL
®
64 AND IA-32 PROCESSORS COVERED IN THIS MANUAL
This manual set includes information pertaining primarily to the most recent Intel 64 and IA-32 processors, which
include:
•
Pentium
®
processors
•
P6 family processors
•
Pentium
®
4 processors
•
Pentium
®
M processors
•
Intel
®
Xeon
®
processors
•
Pentium
®
D processors
•
Pentium
®
processor Extreme Editions
•
64-bit Intel
®
Xeon
®
processors
•
Intel
®
Core™ Duo processor
•
Intel
®
Core™ Solo processor
•
Dual-Core Intel
®
Xeon
®
processor LV
•
Intel
®
Core™2 Duo processor
•
Intel
®
Core™2 Quad processor Q6000 series
•
Intel
®
Xeon
®
processor 3000, 3200 series
•
Intel
®
Xeon
®
processor 5000 series
•
Intel
®
Xeon
®
processor 5100, 5300 series
•
Intel
®
Core™2 Extreme processor X7000 and X6800 series
•
Intel
®
Core™2 Extreme QX6000 series
•
Intel
®
Xeon
®
processor 7100 series