Microprocessor chronology

Progress of miniaturisation, and comparison of sizes of semiconductor manufacturing process nodes with some microscopic objects and visible light wavelengths.

1970s

In the 1970s the microprocessors are mostly 8-bit and manufactured with the NMOS technology.

Date	Name	Developer	Max clock (first version)	Word size (bits)	Process	Transistors
1971	PPS-25	Fairchild	400 kHz	4		Multi-chip, pMOS[1][2]
1971	4004	Intel	740 kHz	4	10 µm	2,250 pMOS
1972	8008	Intel	500 kHz	8	10 μm	3,500 pMOS
1972	PPS-4	Rockwell	200 kHz	4		pMOS[3][4]
1973	μCOM 4	NEC	1 MHz	4		2,500 NMOS[5][6]
1973	IMP-16	National	715 kHz	16		Multi-chip, pMOS[7][8]
1973	Mini-D	Burroughs	1 MHz	8		pMOS[9]
1974	IMP-8	National	715 kHz	8		Multi-chip, pMOS[10]
1974	8080	Intel	2 MHz	8	6 μm	6,000 NMOS
1974	5065	Mostek	1.4 MHz	8		pMOS[11]
1974	TLCS-12	Toshiba	1 MHz	12		NMOS[10]
1974	CP1600	General Instrument	3.3 MHz	16		NMOS[12][13][14]
1974	IMP-4	National	500 kHz	4		Multi-chip, pMOS[10]
1974	4040	Intel	740 kHz	4	10 μm	3,000 pMOS
1974	6800	Motorola	1 MHz	8	-	4,100 NMOS[10]
1974	TMS 1000	Texas Instruments	400 kHz	4	8 μm	8,000
1974	PACE	National		16		pMOS[12][15]
1975	6100	Intersil	4 MHz	12	-	20,000
1975	2650	Signetics	1.2 MHz	8		NMOS[10]
1975	PPS-8	Rockwell	256 kHz	8		pMOS[10]
1975	F-8	Fairchild	2 MHz	8		NMOS[10]
1975	CDP 1801	RCA	2 MHz	8	5 μm	5,000 CMOS two-chip[16][17]
1975	6502	MOS Technologies	1 MHz	8	-	4,000
1975	BPC[18][19]	Hewlett Packard	10 MHz	16	-	6,000 + ROM
1976	CDP 1802	RCA	6.4 MHz	8		CMOS[20][21]
1976	Z-80	Zilog	2.5 MHz	8	4 μm	8,500
1976	TMS9900	Texas Instruments	3.3 MHz	16	-	8,000
1976	8x300	Signetics	8 MHz	8		Bipolar[22][23]
1977	8085	Intel	3.0 MHz	8	3 μm	6,500
1978	6809	Motorola	1 MHz	8	5 μm	40,000
1978	8086	Intel	5 MHz	16	3 μm	29,000
1978	6801	Motorola	-	8	5 μm	35,000
1979	Z8000	Zilog	-	16	-	17,500
1979	8088	Intel	5 MHz	8/16[24]	3 μm	29,000
1979	68000	Motorola	8 MHz	16/32[25]	4 μm	68,000

This list is incomplete; you can help by expanding it.

1980s

In the 1980s the microprocessors are 16-bit and 32-bit, mostly manufactured with the CMOS technology.

Date	Name	Developer	Clock	Word size (bits)	Process	Transistors
1980	16032	National Semiconductor	-	16/32	-	60,000
1981	6120	Harris Corporation	10 MHz	-	-	20,000
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[26]	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
?	80C186	Intel	6 MHz	16	-	? CMOS
1982	80188	Intel	8 MHz	8/16	-	29,000
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[27]	Stanford University	2 MHz	32	3 µm	25,000
1984	68020	Motorola	16 MHz	32	2 µm	190,000
1984	32032	National Semiconductor	-	32	-	70,000
1984	V20	NEC	5 MHz	8/16	-	63,000
1985	80386	Intel	16-40 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
1988	R3000	MIPS	12 MHz	32	1.2 µm	120,000
1986	Z80000	Zilog	-	32	-	91,000
1986	SPARC	Sun	40 MHz	32	0.8 µm	800,000
1986	V60[28]	NEC	16 MHz	16/32	1.5 µm	375,000
1987	CVAX 78034	DEC	12.5 MHz	32	2.0 µm	134,000
1987	ARM2	ARM Limited	18 MHz	32	2 µm	25,000[29]
1987	Gmicro/200[30]	Hitachi	-	-	1.0 µm	730,000
1987	68030	Motorola	16 MHz	32	1.3 µm	273,000
1987	V70[28]	NEC	20 MHz	16/32	1.5 µm	385,000
1988	80386SX	Intel	12-33 MHz	16/32	-	-
1988	i960	Intel	10 MHz	33/32	1.5 µm	250,000
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

This list is incomplete; you can help by expanding it.

1990s

At the beginning of the1990s the microprocessors were still 32-bit, transitioning to 64-bit during the decade. The external RAM speed no longer follow the microprocessor's. So two clocks appears, an external and a faster internal. The internal is the one listed here.

Date	Name	Developer	Clock	Word size (bits)	Process	Transistors (M)	threads per core
1990	68040	Motorola	40 MHz	32	-	1.2
1990	POWER1	IBM	20-30 MHz	32	1.0 µm	6.9
1991	R4000	MIPS Computer Systems	100 MHz	64	0.8 µm	1.35
1991	NVAX	DEC	62.5-90.91 MHz	-	0.75 µm	1.3
1991	RSC	IBM	33 MHz	-	0.8 µm	1.0[31]
1992	Alpha 21064	DEC	100-200 MHz	64	0.75 µm	1.68
1992	microSPARC I	Sun	40-50 MHz	32	0.8 µm	0.8
1992	PA-7100	Hewlett Packard	100 MHz	32	0.80 µm	0.85[32]
1993	PowerPC 601	IBM, Motorola	50-80 MHz	32	0.6 µm	2.8
1993	Pentium	Intel	60-66 MHz	-	0.8 µm	3.1
1993	POWER2	IBM	55-71.5 MHz	32	0.72 µm	23
1994	68060	Motorola	50 MHz	32	0.6 µm	2.5
1994	Alpha 21064A	DEC	200-300 MHz	64	0.5 µm	2.85
1994	R4600	QED	100 - 125 MHz	-	0.65 µm	2.2
1994	PA-7200	Hewlett Packard	125 MHz	32	0.55 µm	1.26
1994	PowerPC 603	IBM, Motorola	60-120 MHz	32	0.5 µm	1.6
1994	PowerPC 604	IBM, Motorola	100-180 MHz	32	0.5 µm	3.6
1994	PA-7100LC	Hewlett Packard	100 MHz	32	0.75 µm	0.90
1995	Alpha 21164	DEC	266-333 MHz	64	0.5 µm	9.3
1995	UltraSPARC	Sun	143–167 MHz	64	0.47 µm	5.2
1995	SPARC64	HAL Computer Systems	101–118 MHz	64	0.40 µm	-
1995	Pentium Pro	Intel	150-200 MHz	-	0.35 µm	5.5
1996	Alpha 21164A	DEC	400-500 MHz	64	0.35 µm	9.7
1996	K5	AMD	75-100 MHz	-	0.5 µm	4.3
1996	R10000	MTI	150-250 MHz	64	0.35 µm	6.7
1996	R5000	QED	180 - 250 MHz	-	0.35 µm	3.7
1996	SPARC64 II	HAL Computer Systems	141–161 MHz	64	0.35 µm	-
1996	PA-8000	Hewlett-Packard	160-180 MHz	64	0.50 µm	3.8
1996	P2SC	IBM	150 MHz	32	0.29 µm	15
1997	RS64	IBM	125 MHz	64	? nm	?
1997	Pentium II	Intel	233-300 MHz	-	0.35 µm	7.5
1997	PowerPC 620	IBM, Motorola	120-150 MHz	64	0.35 µm	6.9
1997	UltraSPARC IIs	Sun	250-400 MHz	64	0.35 µm	5.4
1997	S/390 G4	IBM	370 MHz	-	0.5 µm	7.8
1997	PowerPC 750	IBM, Motorola	233-366 MHz	32	0.26 µm	6.35
1997	K6	AMD	166-233 MHz	-	0.35 µm	8.8
1998	RS64-II	IBM	262 MHz	64	350 nm	12.5
1998	Alpha 21264	DEC	450-600 MHz	64	0.35 µm	15.2
1998	MIPS R12000	SGI	270-400 MHz	64	0.25 µm, 0.18 µm	6.9
1998	RM7000	QED	250 - 300 MHz	-	0.25 µm	18
1998	SPARC64 III	HAL Computer Systems	250-330 MHz	64	0.24 µm	17.6
1998	S/390 G5	IBM	500 MHz	-	0.25 µm	25
1998	PA-8500	Hewlett Packard	300-440 MHz	64	0.25 µm	140
1998	POWER3	IBM	200 MHz	64	0.25 µm	15
1999	Pentium III	Intel	450-600 MHz	-	0.25 µm	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	-	0.25 µm	22

This list is incomplete; you can help by expanding it.

2000s

In the 2000s the microprocessors clock increase reach a ceiling because of the heat dissipation barrier. Because of this multi-core machine appears. 64-bit processors become mainstream.

Date	Name	Developer	Clock	Process	Transistors (M)	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 MHz-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
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	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
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

2010s

Date	Name	Developer	Clock	Process	Transistors (M)	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	5.2 GHz	45 nm	1400	4 / 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[33]	2, 4 / 1	(1,) 2
2011	AMD Fusion	AMD	1.0-1.6 GHz	40 nm	380[34]	1, 2 / 1	1
2011	Xeon E7	Intel	1.73-2.67 GHz	32 nm	2600	4, 6, 8, 10 / 1	1-2
2011	SPARC64 VIIIfx	Fujitsu	2.0 GHz	45 nm	760	8 / 1	2

References

1. ^ Ogdin 1975, pp. 57–59, 77
2. ^ According to Ogdin 1975, the Fairchild PPS-25 was first delivered in 2Q 1971 and the Intel 4004 in 4Q 1971.
3. ^ Ogdin 1975, pp. 72, 77
4. ^ Rockwell PPS-4, The Antique Chip Collector's Page. Accessed on line June 14, 2010.
5. ^ Ryoichi Mori, Hiroaki Tajima, Morihiko Tajima and Yoshikuni Okada (October 1977). Table 2.2, p. 51. "Microprocessors in Japan". Euromicro Newsletter 3 (4): 50–7. doi:10.1016/0303-1268(77)90111-0. 
6. ^ NEC 751 (uCOM-4), The Antique Chip Collector's Page. Accessed on line June 11, 2010.
7. ^ Ogdin 1975, pp. 70, 77
8. ^ National Semiconductor IMP-16, The Antique Chip Collector's Page. Accessed on line June 11, 2010.
9. ^ Ogdin 1975, pp. 55, 77
10. ^ ^{a b c d e f g} Ogdin 1975, p. 77
11. ^ Ogdin 1975, pp. 65, 77
12. ^ ^{a b} David Russell (February 1978). "Microprocessor survey". Microprocessors 2 (1): 13–20, See p. 18. doi:10.1016/0308-5953(78)90071-5. 
13. ^ Microprocessors - The Early Years 1971–1974, The Antique Chip Collector's Page. Accessed on line June 16, 2010.
14. ^ "CP1600 16-Bit Single-Chip Microprocessor", data sheet, General Instrument, 1977. Accessed on line June 18, 2010.
15. ^ Allen Kent, James G. Williams, ed (1990). "Evolution of Computerized Maintenance Management to Generation of Random Numbers". Encyclopedia of Microcomputers. 7. Marcel Dekker. p. 336. ISBN 0824727061. 
16. ^ RCA COSMAC 1801, The Antique Chip Collector's Page. Accessed on line June 14, 2010.
17. ^ "CDP 1800 μP Commercially available" (PDF). Microcomputer Digest 2 (4): 1–3. October 1975. http://www.bitsavers.org/pdf/microcomputerAssociates/Microcomputer_Digest_v02n04_Oct75.pdf. 
18. ^ "Hybrid Microprocessor". http://www.hp9825.com/html/hybrid_microprocessor.html. Retrieved 2008-06-15. 
19. ^ "HP designs Custom 16-bit μC Chip" (PDF). Microcomputer Digest 2 (4): 8. October 1975. http://www.bitsavers.org/pdf/microcomputerAssociates/Microcomputer_Digest_v02n04_Oct75.pdf. 
20. ^ RCA COSMAC 1802, The Antique Chip Collector's Page. Accessed on line June 14, 2010.
21. ^ "CDP 1802" (PDF). Microcomputer Digest 2 (10): 1, 4. April 1976. http://www.bitsavers.org/pdf/microcomputerAssociates/Microcomputer_Digest_v02n10_Apr76.pdf. 
22. ^ Hans Hoffman; John Nemec (April 1977). "A fast microprocessor for control applications". Euromicro Newsletter 3 (3): 53–59. doi:10.1016/0303-1268(77)90010-4. 
23. ^ Microprocessors - The Explosion 1975-1976, The Antique Chip Collector's Page. Accessed on line June 18, 2010.
24. ^ The Intel 8088 had an 8-bit external data bus but internally used a 16-bit architecture.
25. ^ The Motorola 68000 had a 16-bit external data bus but internally used 32-bit registers.
26. ^ "Berkeley Hardware Prototypes". http://www.cs.berkeley.edu/~pattrsn/Arch/prototypes2.html. Retrieved 2008-06-15. 
27. ^ Patterson, David A. (1985). "Reduced instruction set computers". Communications of the ACM 28: 8. doi:10.1145/2465.214917. 
28. ^ ^{a b} Kimura S, Komoto Y, Yano Y (1988). "Implementation of the V60/V70 and its FRM function". Micro, IEEE 8 (2): 22–36. doi:10.1109/40.527. http://ieeexplore.ieee.org/xpl/freeabs_all.jsp?isnumber=33&arnumber=527&count=6&index=1. 
29. ^ The Experimental IHU-2 Aboard P3D: About ARM Architecture
30. ^ Inayoshi H, Kawasaki I, Nishimukai T, Sakamura K (1988). "Realization of Gmicro/200". Micro, IEEE 8 (2): 12–21. doi:10.1109/40.526. http://ieeexplore.ieee.org/xpl/freeabs_all.jsp?isnumber=33&arnumber=526&count=6&index=0. 
31. ^ Moore CR, Balser DM, Muhich JS, East RE (1992). "IBM Single Chip RISC Processor (RSC)". Proceedings of the 1991 IEEE International Conference on Computer Design on VLSI in Computer & Processors. IEEE Computer Society. pp. 200–4. ISBN 0-8186-3110-4. http://zmoore.net/RSC%20ICCD92.pdf. 
32. ^ "PA-RISC Processors". http://www.openpa.net/pa-risc_processors.html. Retrieved 2008-05-11. 
33. ^ http://www.anandtech.com/show/4118/a-closer-look-at-the-sandy-bridge-die
34. ^ http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?s=75ab046a2a3e7839557c22b89ff1ccd5&p=19470009#post19470009

• sandpile.org for x86 processor information
• Ogdin, Jerry (January 1975). "Microprocessor scorecard". Euromicro Newsletter 1 (2): 43–77. doi:10.1016/0303-1268(75)90008-5.