Microprocessors Evolution
An X-ray view of the microprocessor packages evolution showing the progress of miniaturization. Microprocessors ushered in the age of computer programming. Left to right: 1978 Intel D8086 (16-bit, 29000 transistors, 5 MHz); 1992 Intel A80486DX2 (32-bit, 1.2 million transistors, 50 MHz); 2004 Intel Pentium M 735 (32-bit, 140 million transistors, 1.7 GHz); and 2008 Intel Atom 230 (64-bit, 47 million transistors, 1.6 GHz). Image taken with a ZEISS Xradia 620 Versa X-ray microscope.
—Herminso Villarraga-Gómez, ZEISS Industrial Quality Solutions, Michigan, USA
