Timeline by C-J Serbeniuk

1971 IntelP4004

cjserbeniuk — 2023-12-06 11:29:46 UTC

The first microprocessor in history, Intel 4004
was a 4-bit CPU designed for usage in
calculators, or, as we say now, designed
for "embedded applications". Clocked at 740 KHz,
the 4004 executed up to 92,000 single word
instructions per second, could access 4 KB of
program memory and 640 bytes of RAM. Although the
Intel 4004 was perfect fit for calculators and
similar applications it was not very suitable for
microcomputer use due to its somewhat limited
architecture. The 4004 lacked interrupt support,
had only 3-level deep stack, and used complicated
method of accessing the RAM. Some of these
shortcomings were fixed in the 4004 successor -
Intel 4040.

1972 IntelC8008-1

cjserbeniuk — 2023-12-06 11:31:03 UTC

The first 8-bit microprocessor, Intel 8008 was
released 5 months after Intel 4004
microprocessor. The 8008 was available in two
speed grades - 500 KHz and 800 KHz, but even the
faster version 8008-1 was running a bit slower
(in instructions per second) than the 4004.
Nevertheless, overall performance of the 8008 was
greater due to 8-bit architecture. The 8008 had
other advantages over the 4004:

Support of 16 KB of memory (ROM and RAM
combined).

Deeper stack: 7 levels instead of 3 levels.

Interrupt capability.

One of the drawbacks of the Intel 8008 was the
absence of direct memory addressing. To access
data in memory the memory address had to be
stored in H and L registers, and only then the
processor could indirectly access the memory.
This limitation was removed in Intel 8080.

1978 AMD1820-2378

cjserbeniuk — 2023-12-06 11:32:00 UTC

AMD 2901 bit-slice processor family includes 2901
and 2903 4-bit microprocessors slices, 2909 and
2911 microprogram sequencers, 2910 microprogram
controller and other support chips. The 2901
processor consists of 16 4-bit registers, 4-bit
ALU and associated decoding/multiplexing
circuits. The ALU accepts 9-bit microinstructions
that specify source operands, ALU function and
the destination register. The 2901 ALU can
perform 8 different functions (they are encoded
into 3 bits within the microinstruction):
addition, subtraction and logic operations.
Multiple 2901 bit-slice processors could be
combined together to build microprocessors with
any data width (in 4 bits increments).

1982 IntelA80186

cjserbeniuk — 2023-12-06 11:33:39 UTC

Intel 80186 microprocessor, sometimes called
i186, is an enhanced version of Intel 8086 16-bit
processor. Being completely object code
compatible with the 8086, the 80186 integrated
many system components into one chip, added 7 new
instructions, and added new operand types to
three existing 8086 instructions. With the
exception of integrated components, the Intel
80186 microprocessor is not very different from
the 8086, and, because of this, the 80186 may be
considered as an embedded version of 8086.

This is the first PGA chip Intel made.

1987 AMDAm29000-16GC

cjserbeniuk — 2023-12-06 11:34:44 UTC

29K 3-bus microprocessors included the 29000,
29005 and 29050. They have seperate buses for
data, addresses and instructions. All three of
these CPUs are pin compatible and are 5 Volt
devices. The 29005 was the value chip with the
29050 being the premier microporcessor. Thee
29050 possed a very capable FPU. It was a VERY
capable processor and is still in wide use today.

1989 I486 intel

cjserbeniuk — 2023-12-06 11:35:50 UTC

The successor to the 80386 processor, Intel 80486
(i486) added new important features:

Floating Point Unit was integrated with the
processor

Internal clock doubling and tripling allowed the
processor to run much faster in existing
motherboards.

Power management features and SMM (System
Management Mode) became a standard feature of the
processor.

Instruction set optimization resulted in even
greater performance of the processor. Different
versions of the 80486 were produced, two most
common versions are 80486DX with integrated FPU,
and 80486SX without FPU. The Intel 80486 was
produced at speeds up to 100 MHz. AMD produced
even faster 120 and 133 MHz versions of the 80486.

Early SX chips had the FPU disabled, later ones
had it removed from the die completely, saving
400,000 transistors.

DX/SX = 1x Multyplier
DX2/SX2 = 2 x Multyplier
DX4 = 3x Multiplier

Bus Speed: 25MHz

1993 Intel Pentium

cjserbeniuk — 2023-12-06 11:37:03 UTC

The Pentium (or P5) was the next in the line of
Intel x86 CPUs. The class of CPUs is known as
8050x, or Pentiums. Intel was going away from
branding CPUs as numbers (486 etc) as it was
ruled that Intel couldn't copyright numbers.

The Pentium has 16K of Cache (32k in MMX chips)
and could address 4GB of memory. In essence
it was 2 486s side by side. It was made in speeds
from 60MHz-300MHz, voltages from 1.8 (mobile) to
5.15V (origial Pentium).

There are several Flavors of the Pentium:
P5: Original 5V Socket 4
P54C: Socket 5/7 3.3V
P55C: Socket 7 Split Voltage 0.35u MMX

The early Pentiums had a bug called the FDIV Bug,
that under certain conditions would result in
faulty math. It was a PR nightmare and was fixed.
------------------------
Type: P5
MMX: No
FDIV Bug: Yes
------------------------

This was a very early version without the heat
plate.

2006 Intel Core 2 Duo

cjserbeniuk — 2023-12-06 11:38:41 UTC

After learning lessons from the heat and power issues of the Pentium 4, Intel bounced back with the Core 2 Duo. This chip's multi-core technology brought a new level of multitasking efficiency to the table. The Core 2 Duo also brought back per-clock efficiency, marking the start of the "more cores" trend and the eventual end of the clock speed race.

2011 Intel i7-2600K

cjserbeniuk — 2023-12-06 11:39:28 UTC

The i7-2600K was a dream come true for PC enthusiasts. This quad-core CPU offered hyperthreading and had an unlocked multiplier, making it a favorite among overclockers. It showcased the maturity of the multi-core concept and cemented Intel's position as a high-performance CPU manufacturer.

In fact, the entire Sandy Bridge family was something of a revelation. I almost put the i5 2500K in this position instead of the 2600K simply because, apart from hyperthreading, you could get virtually the same performance and overclocking success for a much lower price.

2020 APPLE M1

cjserbeniuk — 2023-12-06 11:40:23 UTC

Last but certainly not least, the Apple M1 chip made waves in the computing world by challenging the status quo of x86 dominance. This Arm-based processor brought unprecedented efficiency and performance levels to Apple's line of Macs, marking the first time a tech giant swapped out third-party CPUs for in-house silicon on a large scale. The M1's success has serious implications for the future, ushering in a new era of personalized, ultra-efficient computing.