11-1
CHAPTER 11
PROCESSOR IDENTIFICATION AND FEATURE
DETERMINATION
When writing software intended to run on several different types of Intel Architecture (IA)
processors, it is generally necessary to identify the type of processor present in a system and the
processor features that are available to an application. This chapter describes how to identify the
processor that is executing the code and determine the features the processor supports. It also
shows how to determine if an FPU or NPX is present. For more information about processor
identification and supported features, refer to the following documents:
AP-485, Intel Processor Identification and the CPUID Instruction
For a complete list of the features that are available for the different IA processors, refer to
Chapter 18, Intel Architecture Compatibility of the Intel Architecture Software Developers
Manual, Volume 3: System Programming Guide.
