Evolution of Processors

By CameronB1424

  • Silicon Discovered

    Silicon Discovered
    Baron Jons Jackob Berzelius
    Created when heating sand to 2200 degree Celsius.
    Used to make computer processors, chips, boards, etc. (anything to do with a computer, has silicon)

  • electrical logic circuits

    electrical logic circuits
    Nikola Tesla
    Gates and Switches.
    And/Or circuits - in order for a light to come on, all 3 switches have to be on. OR, 1 of 3 switches have to be on.

  • Invention of the Transistor

    Invention of the Transistor
    John Bardeen, Walter Brattain, William Shockley
    switch than can be either on or off (0 and 1)
    Used in every computer processor
    amplify, control, and can generate electrical signal

  • first working integrated circuit (IC)

    first working integrated circuit (IC)
    Robert Noyce, Jack Kilby (Dummer was first person to conceptualize and build a prototype)
    Air Force computers
    was a transistor that took up less space and worked better

  • Moore's Law

    Moore's Law
    Gordon Moore
    number of transistors on a computer chip were doubling every 18-24 months - eventually changed to every 2 years
    transistors shrink in size by 1.7 every generational leap - still holds true
    Eventually, they will be so small, the electricity will jump over the gate

  • Intel 4004

    Intel 4004
    Ted Hoff and intel.
    2,300 transistors, 60,000 OPS, $200
    first microprocessor
    general purpose CPU for calculators, cash registers, ATMs.
    Until now, computers were large servers that were filled with transistors and ICs

  • Intel 8008

    Intel 8008
    Intel
    8-bit, 100,000 Instructions per second
    supported more, faster memory
    used in Mark-8 computer (first personal computer)

  • Intel 8080

    Intel 8080
    Improved 8008 - faster - standard in computer industry - intel becomes THE company in computer processors
    later swapped with intel 8085, 8088

  • AMD AM386

    AMD AM386
    Intel is no longer the only one in the processing market
    starts the race for faster clock speeds (higher IPS)

  • Megahertz race

    Megahertz race
    Intel and AMD and constantly making CPUs that have higher megahertz (ISP) Intel Pentium/Celeron vs AMD K series and Athlon series

  • Intel Pentium D/AMD Athlon X2 3800+

    Intel Pentium D/AMD Athlon X2 3800+
    Dual core processors are now real. Ends the megahertz race in favor of more cores and more ISP. Intel kept the Core 2 Duo or Core 2 Quad naming scheme. AMD had Athlons and Phenoms.

  • Intel Core i7

    Intel Core i7
    issued in a new era of Intel dominance. AMD remained competitive with their Phenon line and A series and later bulldoze (FX) processors

  • AMD ZEN arcitecture

    AMD ZEN arcitecture
    AMD didn't beat intel in single-core performance, but they had 8 cores 16 threats compared to Intel's 4 cores 8 threads (on the i7s)
    AMD became competitive again.
    Started a stream of good things for AMD (zen 2 and zen 3) which has put AMD on top
    Intel is now struggling to compete with AMD (they sat on top for too long)