The first chips that could be considered microprocessors were designed and manufactured in the late 1960s and early 1970s, including the MP944 used in the Grumman F-14 CADC. [1] Intel's 4004 of 1971 is widely regarded as the first commercial microprocessor. [2]
Designers predominantly used MOSFET transistors with pMOS logic in the early 1970s, switching to nMOS logic after the mid-1970s. nMOS had the advantage that it could run on a single voltage, typically +5V, which simplified the power supply requirements and allowed it to be easily interfaced with the wide variety of +5V transistor-transistor logic (TTL) devices. nMOS had the disadvantage that it was more susceptible to electronic noise generated by slight impurities in the underlying silicon material, and it was not until the mid-1970s that these, sodium in particular, were successfully removed to the required levels. At that time, around 1975, nMOS quickly took over the market. [3]
This corresponded with the introduction of new semiconductor masking systems, notably the Micralign system from Perkin-Elmer. Micralign projected an image of the mask onto the silicon wafer, never touching it directly, which eliminated the previous problems when the mask would be lifted off the surface and take away some of the photoresist along with it, ruining the chips on that portion of the wafer. [4] By reducing the number of flawed chips, from about 70% to 10%, the cost of complex designs like early microprocessors fell by the same amount. Systems based on contact aligners cost on the order of $300 in single-unit quantities, the MOS 6502, designed specifically to take advantage of these improvements, cost only $25. [5]
This period also saw considerable experimentation with various word lengths. Early on, 4-bit processors were common, like the Intel 4004, simply because making a wider word length could not be accomplished cost-effectively in the room available on the small wafers of the era, especially when the majority would be defective. As yields improved, wafer sizes grew, and feature size continued to be reduced, more complex 8-bit designs emerged like the Intel 8080 and 6502. 16-bit processors emerged early but were expensive; by the decade's end, low-cost 16-bit designs like the Zilog Z8000 were becoming common. Some unusual word lengths were also produced, including 12-bit and 20-bit, often matching a design that had previously been implemented in a multi-chip format in a minicomputer. These had largely disappeared by the end of the decade as minicomputers moved to 32-bit formats.
| Date | Name | Developer | Max clock (first version) | Word size (bits) | Process | Chips [6] | Transistors | MOSFET | Ref |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1969 | AL1 | Four-Phase Systems | 1 MHz | 8 | 10 μm | 1 | 4,000 | MOS | [7] |
| 1970 | TMS 1802NC | Texas Instruments | ? | 8 | ? | 1 | ? | pMOS | |
| 1971 | 4004 | Intel | 740 kHz | 4 | 10 μm | 1 | 2,250 | pMOS | [6] |
| 1972 | PPS-25 | Fairchild | 400 kHz | 4 | 2 | pMOS | [8] [a] | ||
| 1972 | μPD700 | NEC | 4 | 1 | [9] | ||||
| 1972 | 8008 | Intel | 500 kHz | 8 | 10 μm | 1 | 3,500 | pMOS | |
| 1972 | PPS-4 | Rockwell | 200 kHz | 4 | 1 | pMOS | [10] [11] | ||
| 1973 | IMP-16 | National | 715 kHz | 16 | 5 | pMOS | [12] [6] [13] | ||
| 1973 | μCOM-4 | NEC | 2 MHz | 4 | 7.5 μm | 1 | 2,500 | NMOS | [14] [15] [9] [6] |
| 1973 | TLCS-12 | Toshiba | 1 MHz | 12 | 6 μm | 1 | 2,800 silicon gates | pMOS | [16] [17] [6] |
| 1973 | Mini-D | Burroughs | 1 MHz | 8 | 1 | pMOS | [18] | ||
| 1974 | IMP-8 | National | 715 kHz | 8 | 3 | pMOS | [16] | ||
| 1974 | 8080 | Intel | 2 MHz | 8 | 6 μm | 1 | 6,000 | NMOS | |
| 1974 | μCOM-8 | NEC | 2 MHz | 8 | 1 | NMOS | [9] [6] | ||
| 1974 | 5065 | Mostek | 1.4 MHz | 8 | 1 | pMOS | [19] | ||
| 1974 | μCOM-16 | NEC | 2 MHz | 16 | 2 | NMOS | [9] [6] | ||
| 1974 | IMP-4 | National | 500 kHz | 4 | 3 | pMOS | [16] | ||
| 1974 | 4040 | Intel | 740 kHz | 4 | 10 μm | 1 | 3,000 | pMOS | |
| 1974 | 6800 | Motorola | 1 MHz | 8 | - | 1 | 4,100 | NMOS | [16] |
| 1974 | TMS 1000 | Texas Instruments | 400 kHz | 4 | 8 μm | 1 | 8,000 | pMOS,nMOS,cMOS | |
| 1974 | PACE | National | 1.33 MHz | 16 | 1 | pMOS | [20] [21] | ||
| 1974 | ISP-8A/500 (SC/MP) | National | 1 MHz | 8 | 1 | pMOS | |||
| 1975 | 6100 | Intersil | 4 MHz | 12 | - | 1 | 4,000 | CMOS | [22] [23] |
| 1975 | TLCS-12A | Toshiba | 1.2 MHz | 12 | - | 1 | pMOS | [6] | |
| 1975 | 2650 | Signetics | 1.2 MHz | 8 | 1 | NMOS | [16] | ||
| 1975 | PPS-8 | Rockwell | 256 kHz | 8 | 1 | pMOS | [16] | ||
| 1975 | F-8 | Fairchild | 2 MHz | 8 | 1 | NMOS | [16] | ||
| 1975 | CDP 1801 | RCA | 2 MHz | 8 | 5 μm | 2 | 5,000 | CMOS | [24] [25] |
| 1975 | 6502 | MOS Technology | 1 MHz | 8 | - | 1 | 3,510 | NMOS (dynamic) | |
| 1975 | PFL-16A (MN 1610) | Panafacom | 2 MHz | 16 | - | 1 | NMOS | [6] | |
| 1975 | BPC | Hewlett Packard | 10 MHz | 16 | - | 1 | 6,000 (+ ROM) | NMOS | [26] [27] |
| 1975 | MCP-1600 | Western Digital | 3.3 MHz | 16 | - | 3 | NMOS | [28] | |
| 1975 | CP1600 | General Instrument | 3.3 MHz | 16 | 1 | NMOS | [20] [29] [30] [6] | ||
| 1976 | CDP 1802 | RCA | 6.4 MHz | 8 | 1 | CMOS | [31] [32] | ||
| 1976 | Z-80 | Zilog | 2.5 MHz | 8 | 4 μm | 1 | 8,500 | NMOS | |
| 1976 | TMS9900 | Texas Instruments | 3.3 MHz | 16 | - | 1 | 8,000 | nMOS | |
| 1976 | 8x300 | Signetics | 8 MHz | 8 | 1 | Bipolar | [33] [34] | ||
| 1976 | WD16 | Western Digital | 3.3 MHz | 16 | 5 | NMOS | [35] [28] | ||
| 1977 | Bellmac-8 (WE212) | Bell Labs | 2.0 MHz | 8 | 5 μm | 1 | 7,000 | CMOS | |
| 1977 | 8085 | Intel | 3.0 MHz | 8 | 3 μm | 1 | 6,500 | nMOS | |
| 1977 | MC14500B | Motorola | 1.0 MHz | 1 | 1 | CMOS | |||
| 1978 | 6809 | Motorola | 1 MHz | 8 | 5 μm | 1 | 9,000 | NMOS | |
| 1978 | 8086 | Intel | 5 MHz | 16 | 3 μm | 1 | 29,000 | nMOS | |
| 1978 | 6801 | Motorola | - | 8 | 5 μm | 1 | 35,000 | nMOS | |
| 1979 | Z8000 | Zilog | - | 16 | - | 1 | 17,500 | nMOS | |
| 1979 | 8088 | Intel | 5 MHz | 8/16 [b] | 3 μm | 1 | 29,000 | NMOS (HMOS) | |
| 1979 | 68000 | Motorola | 8 MHz | 16/32 [c] | 3.5 μm | 1 | 68,000 | NMOS (HMOS) | [36] |
As Moore's Law continued to drive the industry towards more complex chip designs, the expected widespread move from 8-bit designs of the 1970s to 16-bit designs almost didn't occur; instead, new 32-bit designs like the Motorola 68000 and National Semiconductor NS32000 emerged that offered far more performance. The only widespread use of 16-bit systems was in the IBM PC, which had selected the Intel 8088 in 1979 before the new designs had matured.
Another change was the move to CMOS gates as the primary method of building complex CPUs. CMOS had been available since the early 1970s; RCA introduced the COSMAC processor using CMOS in 1975. [37] Whereas earlier systems used a single transistor as the basis for each "gate", CMOS used a two-sided design, essentially making it twice as expensive to build. Its advantage was that its logic was not based on the voltage of a transistor compared to the silicon substrate, but the difference in voltages between the two sides, which was detectable at much lower power levels.[ citation needed ] As processor complexity continued to grow, power dissipation had become a significant concern and chips were prone to overheating; CMOS greatly reduced this problem and quickly took over the market. [38] This was aided by the uptake of CMOS by Japanese firms while US firms remained on nMOS, giving the Japanese industry a major advance during the 1980s. [39]
Semiconductor fabrication techniques continued to improve throughout. The Micralign, which had "created the modern IC industry", was obsolete by the early 1980s. They were replaced by the new steppers, which used high magnifications and extremely powerful light sources to allow a large mask to be copied onto the wafer at ever-smaller sizes. This technology allowed the industry to break below the former 1 micron limit.
Key home computers in the early part of the decade predominantly use processors developed in the 1970s. Versions of the 6502, first released in 1975, powered the Commodore 64, Apple II, BBC Micro, and Atari 8-bit computers. The 8-bit Zilog Z80 (1976) is at the core of the ZX Spectrum, MSX systems and many others. The 8086-based IBM PC, launched in 1981, started the move to 16-bit, but was soon passed by the 68000-based 16/32-bit Macintosh, then the Atari ST and Amiga. IBM PC compatibles moved to 32-bit with the introduction of the Intel 80386 in late 1985, although 386-based systems were considerably expensive at the time.
In addition to ever-growing word lengths, microprocessors began to add additional functional units that had previously been optional external parts. By the middle of the decade, memory management units (MMUs) were becoming commonplace, first appearing on designs like the Intel 80286 and Motorola 68030. By the end of the decade, floating point units (FPUs) were being added, first appearing on 1989s Intel 486 and followed the next year by the Motorola 68040.
Another change that began during the 1980s involved overall design philosophy with the emergence of the reduced instruction set computer, or RISC. Although the concept was first developed by IBM in the 1970s, the company did not introduce powerful systems based on it, largely for fear of cannibalizing their sales of larger mainframe systems. Market introduction was driven by smaller companies like MIPS Technologies, SPARC and ARM. These companies did not have access to high-end fabrication like Intel and Motorola, but were able to introduce chips that were highly competitive with those companies with a fraction of the complexity. By the end of the decade, every major vendor was introducing a RISC design of their own, like the IBM POWER, Intel i860 and Motorola 88000.
| Date | Name | Developer | Max Clock (first version) | Word size (bits) | Process | Transistors |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1980 | 16032 | National Semiconductor | - | 16/32 | - | 60,000 |
| 1980 | BELLMAC-32/WE 32000 | Bell Labs | 32 | 150,000 | ||
| 1981 | 6120 | Harris Corporation | 10 MHz | 12 | - | 20,000 (CMOS) [40] |
| 1981 | ROMP | IBM | 10 MHz | 32 | 2 μm | 45,000 |
| 1981 | T-11 | DEC | 2.5 MHz | 16 | 5 μm | 17,000 (NMOS) |
| 1982 | RISC-I [41] | UC Berkeley | 1 MHz | - | 5 μm | 44,420 (NMOS) |
| 1982 | FOCUS | Hewlett Packard | 18 MHz | 32 | 1.5 μm | 450,000 |
| 1982 | 80186 | Intel | 6 MHz | 16 | - | 55,000 |
| 1982 | 80188 | Intel | 8 MHz | 8/16 | - | 55,000 |
| 1982 | 80286 | Intel | 6 MHz | 16 | 1.5 μm | 134,000 |
| 1983 | RISC-II | UC Berkeley | 3 MHz | - | 3 μm | 40,760 (NMOS) |
| 1983 | MIPS [42] | Stanford University | 2 MHz | 32 | 3 μm | 25,000 |
| 1983 | 65816 | Western Design Center | - | 16 | - | - |
| 1984 | 68020 | Motorola | 16 MHz | 32 | 2 μm | 190,000 |
| 1984 | NS32032 | National Semiconductor | - | 32 | - | 70,000 |
| 1984 | V20 | NEC | 5 MHz | 8/16 | - | 63,000 |
| 1985 | 80386 | Intel | 12 MHz | 32 | 1.5 μm | 275,000 |
| 1985 | MicroVax II 78032 | DEC | 5 MHz | 32 | 3.0 μm | 125,000 |
| 1985 | R2000 | MIPS | 8 MHz | 32 | 2 μm | 115,000 |
| 1985 [43] | Novix NC4016 | Harris Corporation | 8 MHz | 16 | 3 μm [44] | 16,000 [45] |
| 1986 | Z80000 | Zilog | - | 32 | - | 91,000 |
| 1986 | SPARC MB86900 | Fujitsu [46] [47] [48] | 15 MHz | 32 | 0.8 μm | 800,000 |
| 1986 | V60 [49] | NEC | 16 MHz | 16/32 | 1.5 μm | 375,000 |
| 1987 | 80C186 | Intel | 10 MHz | 16 | - | 56,000 (CMOS) |
| 1987 | CVAX 78034 | DEC | 12.5 MHz | 32 | 2.0 μm | 134,000 |
| 1987 | ARM2 | Acorn | 8 MHz | 32 | 2 μm | 25,000 [50] |
| 1987 | Gmicro/200 [51] | Hitachi | - | - | 1 μm | 730,000 |
| 1987 | 68030 | Motorola | 16 MHz | 32 | 1.3 μm | 273,000 |
| 1987 | V70 [49] | NEC | 20 MHz | 16/32 | 1.5 μm | 385,000 |
| 1988 | R3000 | MIPS | 25 MHz | 32 | 1.2 μm | 120,000 |
| 1988 | 80386SX | Intel | 12 MHz | 16/32 | - | - |
| 1988 | i960 | Intel | 10 MHz | 33/32 | 1.5 μm | 250,000 |
| 1989 | i960CA [52] | Intel | 16–33 MHz | 33/32 | 0.8 μm | 600,000 |
| 1989 | VAX DC520 "Rigel" | DEC | 35 MHz | 32 | 1.5 μm | 320,000 |
| 1989 | 80486 | Intel | 25 MHz | 32 | 1 μm | 1,180,000 |
| 1989 | i860 | Intel | 25 MHz | 32 | 1 μm | 1,000,000 |
The 32-bit microprocessor dominated the consumer market in the 1990s. Processor clock speeds increased by more than tenfold between 1990 and 1999, and 64-bit processors began to emerge later in the decade. In the 1990s, microprocessors no longer used the same clock speed for the processor and the RAM. Processors began to have a front-side bus (FSB) clock speed used in communication with RAM and other components. Typically, the processor itself ran at a clock speed that was a multiple of the FSB clock speed. Intel's Pentium III, for example, had an internal clock speed of 450–600 MHz and an FSB speed of 100–133 MHz. Only the processor's internal clock speed is shown here.
| Date | Name | Developer | Clock | Word size (bits) | Process | Transistors (millions) | Threads |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1990 | 68040 | Motorola | 40 MHz | 32 | - | 1.2 | |
| 1990 | POWER1 | IBM | 20–30 MHz | 32 | 1,000 nm | 6.9 | |
| 1991 | R4000 | MIPS Computer Systems | 100 MHz | 64 | 800 nm | 1.35 | |
| 1991 | NVAX | DEC | 62.5–90.91 MHz | 32 | 750 nm | 1.3 | |
| 1991 | RSC | IBM | 33 MHz | 32 | 800 nm | 1.0 [53] | |
| 1992 | SH-1 | Hitachi | 20 MHz [54] | 32 | 800 nm | 0.6 [55] | |
| 1992 | Alpha 21064 | DEC | 100–200 MHz | 64 | 750 nm | 1.68 | |
| 1992 | microSPARC I | Sun | 40–50 MHz | 32 | 800 nm | 0.8 | |
| 1992 | PA-7100 | Hewlett Packard | 100 MHz | 32 | 800 nm | 0.85 [56] | |
| 1992 | 486SLC | Cyrix | 40 MHz | 16 | |||
| 1993 | HARP-1 | Hitachi | 120 MHz | - | 500 nm | 2.8 [57] | |
| 1993 | PowerPC 601 | IBM, Motorola | 50–80 MHz | 32 | 600 nm | 2.8 | |
| 1993 | Pentium | Intel | 60–66 MHz | 32 | 800 nm | 3.1 | |
| 1993 | POWER2 | IBM | 55–71.5 MHz | 32 | 720 nm | 23 | |
| 1994 | microSPARC II | Fujitsu | 60–125 MHz | - | 500 nm | 2.3 | |
| 1994 | S/390 G1 | IBM | - | 32 | - | ||
| 1994 | 68060 | Motorola | 50 MHz | 32 | 600 nm | 2.5 | |
| 1994 | Alpha 21064A | DEC | 200–300 MHz | 64 | 500 nm | 2.85 | |
| 1994 | R4600 | QED | 100–125 MHz | 64 | 650 nm | 2.2 | |
| 1994 | PA-7200 | Hewlett Packard | 125 MHz | 32 | 550 nm | 1.26 | |
| 1994 | PowerPC 603 | IBM, Motorola | 60–120 MHz | 32 | 500 nm | 1.6 | |
| 1994 | PowerPC 604 | IBM, Motorola | 100–180 MHz | 32 | 500 nm | 3.6 | |
| 1994 | PA-7100LC | Hewlett Packard | 100 MHz | 32 | 750 nm | 0.90 | |
| 1995 | Alpha 21164 | DEC | 266–333 MHz | 64 | 500 nm | 9.3 | |
| 1995 | S/390 G2 | IBM | - | 32 | - | ||
| 1995 | UltraSPARC | Sun | 143–167 MHz | 64 | 470 nm | 5.2 | |
| 1995 | SPARC64 | HAL Computer Systems | 101–118 MHz | 64 | 400 nm | - | |
| 1995 | Pentium Pro | Intel | 150–200 MHz | 32 | 350 nm | 5.5 | |
| 1996 | Alpha 21164A | DEC | 400–500 MHz | 64 | 350 nm | 9.7 | |
| 1995 | S/390 G3 | IBM | - | 32 | - | ||
| 1996 | K5 | AMD | 75–100 MHz | 32 | 500 nm | 4.3 | |
| 1996 | R10000 | MTI | 150–250 MHz | 64 | 350 nm | 6.7 | |
| 1996 | R5000 | QED | 180–250 MHz | - | 350 nm | 3.7 | |
| 1996 | SPARC64 II | HAL Computer Systems | 141–161 MHz | 64 | 350 nm | - | |
| 1996 | PA-8000 | Hewlett-Packard | 160–180 MHz | 64 | 500 nm | 3.8 | |
| 1996 | POWER2 Super Chip (P2SC) | IBM | 150 MHz | 32 | 290 nm | 15 | |
| 1997 | SH-4 | Hitachi | 200 MHz | - | 200 nm [58] | 10 [59] | |
| 1997 | RS64 | IBM | 125 MHz | 64 | ? nm | ? | |
| 1997 | Pentium II | Intel | 233–300 MHz | 32 | 350 nm | 7.5 | |
| 1997 | PowerPC 620 | IBM, Motorola | 120–150 MHz | 64 | 350 nm | 6.9 | |
| 1997 | UltraSPARC IIs | Sun | 250–400 MHz | 64 | 350 nm | 5.4 | |
| 1997 | S/390 G4 | IBM | 370 MHz | 32 | 500 nm | 7.8 | |
| 1997 | PowerPC 750 | IBM, Motorola | 233–366 MHz | 32 | 260 nm | 6.35 | |
| 1997 | K6 | AMD | 166–233 MHz | 32 | 350 nm | 8.8 | |
| 1998 | RS64-II | IBM | 262 MHz | 64 | 350 nm | 12.5 | |
| 1998 | Alpha 21264 | DEC | 450–600 MHz | 64 | 350 nm | 15.2 | |
| 1998 | MIPS R12000 | SGI | 270–400 MHz | 64 | 250–180 nm | 6.9 | |
| 1998 | RM7000 | QED | 250–300 MHz | - | 250 nm | 18 | |
| 1998 | SPARC64 III | HAL Computer Systems | 250–330 MHz | 64 | 240 nm | 17.6 | |
| 1998 | S/390 G5 | IBM | 500 MHz | 32 | 250 nm | 25 | |
| 1998 | PA-8500 | Hewlett Packard | 300–440 MHz | 64 | 250 nm | 140 | |
| 1998 | POWER3 | IBM | 200 MHz | 64 | 250 nm | 15 | |
| 1999 | S/390 G6 | IBM | 550-637 MHz | 32 | - | ||
| 1999 | Emotion Engine | Sony, Toshiba | 294–300 MHz | - | 180–65 nm [60] | 13.5 [61] | |
| 1999 | Pentium III | Intel | 450–600 MHz | 32 | 250 nm | 9.5 | |
| 1999 | RS64-III | IBM | 450 MHz | 64 | 220 nm | 34 | 2 |
| 1999 | PowerPC 7400 | Motorola | 350–500 MHz | 32 | 200–130 nm | 10.5 | |
| 1999 | Athlon | AMD | 500–1000 MHz | 32 | 250 nm | 22 |
64-bit processors became mainstream in the 2000s. Microprocessor clock speeds reached a ceiling because of the heat dissipation barrier[ citation needed ]. Instead of implementing expensive and impractical cooling systems, manufacturers turned to parallel computing in the form of the multi-core processor. Overclocking had its roots in the 1990s, but came into its own in the 2000s. Off-the-shelf cooling systems designed for overclocked processors became common, and the gaming PC had its advent as well. Over the decade, transistor counts increased by about an order of magnitude, a trend continued from previous decades. Process sizes decreased about fourfold, from 180 nm to 45 nm.
| Date | Name | Developer | Clock | Process | Transistors (millions) | Cores per die / Dies per module |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | Athlon XP | AMD | 1.33–1.73 GHz | 180 nm | 37.5 | 1 / 1 |
| 2000 | Duron | AMD | 550 MHz–1.3 GHz | 180 nm | 25 | 1 / 1 |
| 2000 | RS64-IV | IBM | 600–750 MHz | 180 nm | 44 | 1 / 2 |
| 2000 | Pentium 4 | Intel | 1.3–2 GHz | 180–130 nm | 42 | 1 / 1 |
| 2000 | SPARC64 IV | Fujitsu | 450–810 MHz | 130 nm | - | 1 / 1 |
| 2000 | z900 | IBM | 918 MHz | 180 nm | 47 | 1 / 12, 20 |
| 2001 | MIPS R14000 | SGI | 500–600 MHz | 130 nm | 7.2 | 1 / 1 |
| 2001 | POWER4 | IBM | 1.1–1.4 GHz | 180–130 nm | 174 | 2 / 1, 4 |
| 2001 | UltraSPARC III | Sun | 750–1200 MHz | 130 nm | 29 | 1 / 1 |
| 2001 | Itanium | Intel | 733–800 MHz | 180 nm | 25 | 1 / 1 |
| 2001 | PowerPC 7450 | Motorola | 733–800 MHz | 180–130 nm | 33 | 1 / 1 |
| 2002 | SPARC64 V | Fujitsu | 1.1–1.35 GHz | 130 nm | 190 | 1 / 1 |
| 2002 | Itanium 2 | Intel | 0.9–1 GHz | 180 nm | 410 | 1 / 1 |
| 2003 | PowerPC 970 | IBM | 1.6–2.0 GHz | 130–90 nm | 52 | 1 / 1 |
| 2003 | Pentium M | Intel | 0.9–1.7 GHz | 130–90 nm | 77 | 1 / 1 |
| 2003 | Opteron | AMD | 1.4–2.4 GHz | 130 nm | 106 | 1 / 1 |
| 2004 | POWER5 | IBM | 1.65–1.9 GHz | 130–90 nm | 276 | 2 / 1, 2, 4 |
| 2004 | PowerPC BGL | IBM | 700 MHz | 130 nm | 95 | 2 / 1 |
| 2005 | IBM z9 | IBM | ||||
| 2005 | Opteron "Athens" | AMD | 1.6–3.0 GHz | 90 nm | 114 | 1 / 1 |
| 2005 | Pentium D | Intel | 2.8–3.2 GHz | 90 nm | 115 | 1 / 2 |
| 2005 | Athlon 64 X2 | AMD | 2–2.4 GHz | 90 nm | 243 | 2 / 1 |
| 2005 | PowerPC 970MP | IBM | 1.2–2.5 GHz | 90 nm | 183 | 2 / 1 |
| 2005 | UltraSPARC IV | Sun | 1.05–1.35 GHz | 130 nm | 66 | 2 / 1 |
| 2005 | UltraSPARC T1 | Sun | 1–1.4 GHz | 90 nm | 300 | 8 / 1 |
| 2005 | Xenon | IBM | 3.2 GHz | 90–45 nm | 165 | 3 / 1 |
| 2006 | Core Duo | Intel | 1.1–2.33 GHz | 90–65 nm | 151 | 2 / 1 |
| 2006 | Core 2 | Intel | 1.06–2.67 GHz | 65–45 nm | 291 | 2 / 1, 2 |
| 2006 | Cell/B.E. | IBM, Sony, Toshiba | 3.2–4.6 GHz | 90–45 nm | 241 | 1+8 / 1 |
| 2006 | Itanium "Montecito" | Intel | 1.4–1.6 GHz | 90 nm | 1720 | 2 / 1 |
| 2007 | POWER6 | IBM | 3.5–4.7 GHz | 65 nm | 790 | 2 / 1 |
| 2007 | SPARC64 VI | Fujitsu | 2.15–2.4 GHz | 90 nm | 543 | 2 / 1 |
| 2007 | UltraSPARC T2 | Sun | 1–1.4 GHz | 65 nm | 503 | 8 / 1 |
| 2007 | TILE64 | Tilera | 600–900 MHz | 90–45 nm | ? | 64 / 1 |
| 2007 | Opteron "Barcelona" | AMD | 1.8–3.2 GHz | 65 nm | 463 | 4 / 1 |
| 2007 | PowerPC BGP | IBM | 850 MHz | 90 nm | 208 | 4 / 1 |
| 2008 | Phenom | AMD | 1.8–2.6 GHz | 65 nm | 450 | 2, 3, 4 / 1 |
| 2008 | z10 | IBM | 4.4 GHz | 65 nm | 993 | 4 / 7 |
| 2008 | PowerXCell 8i | IBM | 2.8–4.0 GHz | 65 nm | 250 | 1+8 / 1 |
| 2008 | SPARC64 VII | Fujitsu | 2.4–2.88 GHz | 65 nm | 600 | 4 / 1 |
| 2008 | Atom | Intel | 0.8–1.6 GHz | 65–45 nm | 47 | 1 / 1 |
| 2008 | Core i7 | Intel | 2.66–3.2 GHz | 45–32 nm | 730 | 2, 4, 6 / 1 |
| 2008 | TILEPro64 | Tilera | 600–866 MHz | 90–45 nm | ? | 64 / 1 |
| 2008 | Opteron "Shanghai" | AMD | 2.3–2.9 GHz | 45 nm | 751 | 4 / 1 |
| 2009 | Phenom II | AMD | 2.5–3.2 GHz | 45 nm | 758 | 2, 3, 4, 6 / 1 |
| 2009 | Opteron "Istanbul" | AMD | 2.2–2.8 GHz | 45 nm | 904 | 6 / 1 |
A new trend appears, the multi-chip module made of several chiplets. This is multiple monolithic chips in a single package. This allows higher integration with several smaller and easier to manufacture chips.
| Date | Name | Developer | Clock | Process | Transistors (millions) | Cores per die / Dies per module | Threads per core |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2010 | POWER7 | IBM | 3–4.14 GHz | 45 nm | 1200 | 4, 6, 8 / 1, 4 | 4 |
| 2010 | Itanium "Tukwila" | Intel | 2 GHz | 65 nm | 2000 | 2, 4 / 1 | 2 |
| 2010 | Opteron "Magny-cours" | AMD | 1.7–2.4 GHz | 45 nm | 1810 | 4, 6 / 2 | 1 |
| 2010 | Xeon "Nehalem-EX" | Intel | 1.73–2.66 GHz | 45 nm | 2300 | 4, 6, 8 / 1 | 2 |
| 2010 | z196 | IBM | 3.8–5.2 GHz | 45 nm | 1400 | 4 / 1, 6 | 1 |
| 2010 | SPARC T3 | Sun | 1.6 GHz | 45 nm | 2000 | 16 / 1 | 8 |
| 2010 | SPARC64 VII+ | Fujitsu | 2.66–3.0 GHz | 45 nm | ? | 4 / 1 | 2 |
| 2010 | Intel "Westmere" | Intel | 1.86–3.33 GHz | 32 nm | 1170 | 4–6 / 1 | 2 |
| 2011 | Intel "Sandy Bridge" | Intel | 1.6–3.4 GHz | 32 nm | 995 [62] | 2, 4 / 1 | (1,) 2 |
| 2011 | AMD Llano | AMD | 1.0–1.6 GHz | 40 nm | 380 [63] | 1, 2 / 1 | 1 |
| 2011 | Xeon E7 | Intel | 1.73–2.67 GHz | 32 nm | 2600 | 4, 6, 8, 10 / 1 | 1–2 |
| 2011 | Power ISA BGQ | IBM | 1.6 GHz | 45 nm | 1470 | 18 / 1 | 4 |
| 2011 | SPARC64 VIIIfx | Fujitsu | 2.0 GHz | 45 nm | 760 | 8 / 1 | 2 |
| 2011 | FX "Bulldozer" Interlagos | AMD | 3.1–3.6 GHz | 32 nm | 1200 [64] | 4–8 / 2 | 1 |
| 2011 | SPARC T4 | Oracle | 2.8–3 GHz | 40 nm | 855 | 8 / 1 | 8 |
| 2012 | SPARC64 IXfx | Fujitsu | 1.848 GHz | 40 nm | 1870 | 16 / 1 | 2 |
| 2012 | zEC12 | IBM | 5.5 GHz | 32 nm | 2750 | 6 / 6 | 1 |
| 2012 | POWER7+ | IBM | 3.1–5.3 GHz | 32 nm | 2100 | 8 / 1, 2 | 4 |
| 2012 | Itanium "Poulson" | Intel | 1.73–2.53 GHz | 32 nm | 3100 | 8 / 1 | 2 |
| 2013 | Intel "Haswell" | Intel | 1.9–4.4 GHz | 22 nm | 1400 | 4 / 1 | 2 |
| 2013 | SPARC64 X | Fujitsu | 2.8–3 GHz | 28 nm | 2950 | 16 / 1 | 2 |
| 2013 | SPARC T5 | Oracle | 3.6 GHz | 28 nm | 1500 | 16 / 1 | 8 |
| 2014 | POWER8 | IBM | 2.5–5 GHz | 22 nm | 4200 | 6, 12 / 1, 2 | 8 |
| 2014 | Intel "Broadwell" | Intel | 1.8-4 GHz | 14 nm | 1900 | 2, 4, 6, 8, 12, 16 / 1, 2, 4 | 2 |
| 2015 | z13 | IBM | 5 GHz | 22 nm | 3990 | 8 / 1 | 2 |
| 2015 | A8-7670K | AMD | 3.6 GHz | 28 nm | 2410 | 4 / 1 | 1 |
| 2016 | RISC-V E31 [65] | SiFive | 320 MHz | 28 nm | ? | 1 | 1 |
| 2017 | Zen | AMD | 3.2–4.1 GHz | 14 nm | 4800 | 8, 16 / 1, 2, 4 | 2 |
| 2017 | z14 | IBM | 5.2 GHz | 14 nm | 6100 | 10 / 1 | 2 |
| 2017 | POWER9 | IBM | 4 GHz | 14 nm | 8000 | 12, 24 / 1 | 4, 8 |
| 2017 | SPARC M8 [66] | Oracle | 5 GHz | 20 nm | ~10,000 [67] | 32 | 8 |
| 2017 | RISC-V U54-MC [68] | SiFive | 1.5 GHz | 28 nm | 250 | 4 | 1 |
| 2018 | Intel "Cannon Lake" | Intel | 2.2–3.2 GHz | 10 nm | ? | 2 / 1 | 2 |
| 2018 | Zen+ | AMD | 2.8–3.7 GHz | 12 nm | 4800 | 2, 4, 6, 8 / 1, 2, 4 | 1, 2 |
| 2018 | RISC-V U74-MC [69] | SiFive | 1.5 GHz | ? | ? | 4 | 1 |
| 2019 | Zen 2 | AMD | 2–4.7 GHz | 7 nm, 12nm | 3900 | 4, 6, 8 / 1, 2, 4, 6, 8 | 2 |
| 2019 | z15 | IBM | 5.2 GHz | 14 nm | 9200 | 12 / 1 | 2 |
| Date | Name | Developer | Clock | Process | Transistors (millions) | Cores per die / Dies per module | Threads per core |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | Zen 3 | AMD | 3.4–4.9 GHz | 7 nm, 12nm | 6240-35290 | 4, 6, 8 / 1, 2, 4, 8 | 2 |
| 2020 | M1 Series | Apple | 3.2 GHz | 5 nm | 16000-144000 | 4-8P, 2-4E / 1, 2 | 1 |
| 2021 | Alder Lake | Intel | 0.7-5.3 GHz | 7 nm | ? | 0-8P, 2-8E | 1-2 |
| 2022 | IBM Telum | IBM | >5 GHz | 7 nm | 22000 | 8 | 1 |
| 2022 | M2 Series | Apple | 3.49/2.42 GHz | 5 nm (N5P) | 20000-134000 | 4-8P, 4E / 1, 2 | 1 |
| 2022 | Zen 4 | AMD | 2.0-5.7 GHz | 5 nm, 7 nm | ? | 4, 6, 8 / 1, 2, 4, 8, 12 | 2 |
| 2023 | Zen 4C | AMD | 2.0 - 3.1 GHz | 5 nm | ? | 4, 6, 8, 12, 14, 16 / 1, 2, 4, 8 | 1, 2 |
| 2023 | M3 Series | Apple | 4.05/2.75 GHz | 3 nm | 25000-92000 | 4-12P, 4-6E | 1 |
| 2023 | Meteor Lake | Intel | 0.7-5.0 GHz | 5 nm, 7 nm | ? | 2-6P, 4-8E, 2LP-E | 1-2 |
| 2024 | Oryon | Qualcomm | 4.3 GHz | 4 nm | ? | 12 | 1 |
| 2024 | Zen 5 | AMD | 4.3 GHz | 5 nm | ? | 6, 8, 16 / 2, 3 | 2 |
The first processor using these principles, called ARM-1, was fabricated by VLSI in April 1985, and gave startling performance for the time, whilst using barely 25,000 transistors
{{cite book}}: |work= ignored (help)Processor design is a subfield of computer science and computer engineering (fabrication) that deals with creating a processor, a key component of computer hardware.
An integrated circuit (IC), also known as a microchip, computer chip, or simply chip, is a small electronic device made up of multiple interconnected electronic components such as transistors, resistors, and capacitors. These components are etched onto a small piece of semiconductor material, usually silicon. Integrated circuits are used in a wide range of electronic devices, including computers, smartphones, and televisions, to perform various functions such as processing and storing information. They have greatly impacted the field of electronics by enabling device miniaturization and enhanced functionality.
A microprocessor is a computer processor for which the data processing logic and control is included on a single integrated circuit (IC), or a small number of ICs. The microprocessor contains the arithmetic, logic, and control circuitry required to perform the functions of a computer's central processing unit (CPU). The IC is capable of interpreting and executing program instructions and performing arithmetic operations. The microprocessor is a multipurpose, clock-driven, register-based, digital integrated circuit that accepts binary data as input, processes it according to instructions stored in its memory, and provides results as output. Microprocessors contain both combinational logic and sequential digital logic, and operate on numbers and symbols represented in the binary number system.
The MOS Technology 6502 is an 8-bit microprocessor that was designed by a small team led by Chuck Peddle for MOS Technology. The design team had formerly worked at Motorola on the Motorola 6800 project; the 6502 is essentially a simplified, less expensive and faster version of that design.
The 6800 is an 8-bit microprocessor designed and first manufactured by Motorola in 1974. The MC6800 microprocessor was part of the M6800 Microcomputer System that also included serial and parallel interface ICs, RAM, ROM and other support chips. A significant design feature was that the M6800 family of ICs required only a single five-volt power supply at a time when most other microprocessors required three voltages. The M6800 Microcomputer System was announced in March 1974 and was in full production by the end of that year.
The Motorola 68020 is a 32-bit microprocessor from Motorola, released in 1984. A lower-cost version was also made available, known as the 68EC020. In keeping with naming practices common to Motorola designs, the 68020 is usually referred to as the "020", pronounced "oh-two-oh" or "oh-twenty".
The Motorola 6809 ("sixty-eight-oh-nine") is an 8-bit microprocessor with some 16-bit features. It was designed by Motorola's Terry Ritter and Joel Boney and introduced in 1978. Although source compatible with the earlier Motorola 6800, the 6809 offered significant improvements over it and 8-bit contemporaries like the MOS Technology 6502, including a hardware multiplication instruction, 16-bit arithmetic, system and user stack registers allowing re-entrant code, improved interrupts, position-independent code, and an orthogonal instruction set architecture with a comprehensive set of addressing modes.
The Pentium is a microprocessor introduced by Intel on March 22, 1993. It is the first CPU using the Pentium brand. Considered the fifth generation in the x86 (8086) compatible line of processors, succeeding the i486, its implementation and microarchitecture was internally called P5.
In electronics and computer science, a reduced instruction set computer (RISC) is a computer architecture designed to simplify the individual instructions given to the computer to accomplish tasks. Compared to the instructions given to a complex instruction set computer (CISC), a RISC computer might require more instructions in order to accomplish a task because the individual instructions are written in simpler code. The goal is to offset the need to process more instructions by increasing the speed of each instruction, in particular by implementing an instruction pipeline, which may be simpler to achieve given simpler instructions.
The StrongARM is a family of computer microprocessors developed by Digital Equipment Corporation and manufactured in the late 1990s which implemented the ARM v4 instruction set architecture. It was later acquired by Intel in 1997 from DEC's own Digital Semiconductor division as part of a settlement of a lawsuit between the two companies over patent infringement. Intel then continued to manufacture it before replacing it with the StrongARM-derived ARM-based follow-up architecture called XScale in the early 2000s.
Complementary metal–oxide–semiconductor is a type of metal–oxide–semiconductor field-effect transistor (MOSFET) fabrication process that uses complementary and symmetrical pairs of p-type and n-type MOSFETs for logic functions. CMOS technology is used for constructing integrated circuit (IC) chips, including microprocessors, microcontrollers, memory chips, and other digital logic circuits. CMOS technology is also used for analog circuits such as image sensors, data converters, RF circuits, and highly integrated transceivers for many types of communication.
The 88000 is a RISC instruction set architecture developed by Motorola during the 1980s. The MC88100 arrived on the market in 1988, some two years after the competing SPARC and MIPS. Due to the late start and extensive delays releasing the second-generation MC88110, the m88k achieved very limited success outside of the MVME platform and embedded controller environments. When Motorola joined the AIM alliance in 1991 to develop the PowerPC, further development of the 88000 ended.
Mostek Corporation was a semiconductor integrated circuit manufacturer, founded in 1969 by L. J. Sevin, Louay E. Sharif, Richard L. Petritz and other ex-employees of Texas Instruments. At its peak in the late 1970s, Mostek held an 85% market share of the dynamic random-access memory (DRAM) memory chip market worldwide, until being eclipsed by lower-priced Japanese DRAM manufacturers who were accused of dumping memory on the market.
In integrated circuits, depletion-load NMOS is a form of digital logic family that uses only a single power supply voltage, unlike earlier NMOS logic families that needed more than one different power supply voltage. Although manufacturing these integrated circuits required additional processing steps, improved switching speed and the elimination of the extra power supply made this logic family the preferred choice for many microprocessors and other logic elements.
The transistor count is the number of transistors in an electronic device. It is the most common measure of integrated circuit complexity. The rate at which MOS transistor counts have increased generally follows Moore's law, which observes that transistor count doubles approximately every two years. However, being directly proportional to the area of a die, transistor count does not represent how advanced the corresponding manufacturing technology is. A better indication of this is transistor density which is the ratio of a semiconductor's transistor count to its die area.
The NEC V60 is a CISC microprocessor manufactured by NEC starting in 1986. Several improved versions were introduced with the same instruction set architecture (ISA), the V70 in 1987, and the V80 and AFPP in 1989. They were succeeded by the V800 product families, which is currently produced by Renesas Electronics.
The history of general-purpose CPUs is a continuation of the earlier history of computing hardware.
PMOS or pMOS logic is a family of digital circuits based on p-channel, enhancement mode metal–oxide–semiconductor field-effect transistors (MOSFETs). In the late 1960s and early 1970s, PMOS logic was the dominant semiconductor technology for large-scale integrated circuits before being superseded by NMOS and CMOS devices.
The R2000 is a 32-bit microprocessor chip set developed by MIPS Computer Systems that implemented the MIPS I instruction set architecture (ISA). Introduced in January 1986, it was, by a few months, the first commercial implementation of the RISC architecture. The R2000 competed with Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC) VAX minicomputers and with Motorola 68000 and Intel Corporation 80386 microprocessors. R2000 users included Ardent Computer, DEC, Silicon Graphics, Northern Telecom and MIPS's own Unix workstations.
In computer architecture, 16-bit integers, memory addresses, or other data units are those that are 16 bits wide. Also, 16-bit central processing unit (CPU) and arithmetic logic unit (ALU) architectures are those that are based on registers, address buses, or data buses of that size. 16-bit microcomputers are microcomputers that use 16-bit microprocessors.