The Intel Pentium III 500 MHz with a 100 MHz FSB code-named Katmai was introduced on February 26, 1999, and initially continued to use the Slot 1 as its connection to the motherboard. With proper BIOS support, this processor could also be used on older Pentium II motherboards. The Pentium III released to controversy about privacy with the announcement of each processor having a unique identification to help verify the identity of people over the Internet. Because of the concern, Intel disabled this feature by default.

The Intel Pentium III 550 MHz processor was released on May 17, 1999, followed by the 600 MHz on August 2, 1999, and finally the 533B and 600B (133MHz FSB) on September 27, 1999.

Later, Intel introduced the Pentium III Coppermine series, which introduced a new Pentium III that utilized the Socket 370 socket in addition to the Slot1 configuration. The Intel Pentium III Coppermine 500, 533, 550, 600, 650, 667, 700, and 733 were first introduced on October 25, 1999.

CPU terms

  • How to disable the serial number on an Intel Pentium III+.
  • CPU help and support.