This year is the 40th anniversary of Intel’s birth. Does anyone remember their very first chip? Below is a recap, based on information in a PC Magazine article.
|
YEAR |
MODEL |
NOTABLE |
NOTABLE |
| 1971 | 4004 | 400 khz | 1st microprocessor |
| 1974 | 8080 | traffic light controllers | Altair computer |
| 1979 | 8088 | 5 mhz; 8 mhz | IBM PC & clones |
| 1982 | 80286 | compatible with 8088 | new processor family |
| 1985 | 386 DX | first 32 bit processor | 275,000 transistors |
| 1989 | 486 DX | math co-processor | |
| 1994 | Pentium | up to 100 mhz | |
| 1995 | Pentium Pro | 2nd cache memory chip | 5.5 million transistors |
| 1996 | Pentium II | MMX technology | 7.5 millions transistors |
| 1998 | Pentium II Xeon | scale 4 to 8 processors | workstations & servers |
| 1999 | Pentium III | 500 mhz | 9.5 million transistors |
| 2000 | Celeron | portable PC’s | performance + price |
| 2000 | Pentium 4 | 1.5 ghz | 42 million transistors |
| 2002 | Pentium 4 | 3.06 ghz | hyper-threading |
| 2004 | Pentium M | Centrino technology | low voltage technology |
| 2005 | Pentium 4 Extreme | 3.8 ghz | for gamers |
| 2005 | Pentium D 800 | dual-core technology | |
| 2006 | Core Duo | speed | efficient design |
| 2007 | Core 2 Quad Q6600 | 2.4 ghz leading edge | high-end gaming |
| 2008 | Atom Z540 | ultra-mobile pc’s | smallest chip |
What’s really amazing, looking at the table, is the number of transistors that can now be placed on a chip, 42 million versus 275,000 only twenty years ago.
Intel was founded on July 18th, 1968 by Robert Noyce and Gordon Moore. It’s name is an acronym for Integrated Electronics. Gordon Moore is also well know for Moore’s law, which states that the number of transistors that can be inexpensively place on an integrated circuit increases exponentially, doubling every two years.
Intel has 100,000 employees and is in the Top 50 on the Fortune 500 list.
