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Intel Shipped 1 Billionth Computer Chip

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the thats-a-lotta-silicon dept.

murat submitted linkage to a simple little story that proclaims that Intel has recently shipped it's One Billionth Chip. Quite an impressive accomplishment... it took them 25 years to reach the billions, but they estimate that they will hit 2 billion by only 2007.

10 of 350 comments (clear)

  1. 8086 not the first processor... by pir8garth · · Score: 5, Informative

    The intel family of PC processors actually started with the 8080. It was released in April 1974 running at 2MHz, and is generally considered to be the first truly usable microprocessor design. It was used in many early computers, and formed the basis for machines running CP/M. The first single-board microcomputer was built on the basis of the 8080. The 8088 was actually released before the 8086, but as the article states the 8086 was developed first.

    --
    Something clever...
    1. Re:8086 not the first processor... by VAXcat · · Score: 3, Informative

      Gez, you youngsters! The first Intel processor chip of any note was the 8008! There was an active hobby community built around it, before the 8080 came out. Scelbi Computer Consulting sold systems & software, as well as many others.

      --
      There is no God, and Dirac is his prophet.
    2. Re:8086 not the first processor... by Zocalo · · Score: 4, Informative

      Confused me too, but having actually *read* the Intel PR - it's the one billionth x86 CPU specifically. So that excludes all the other silicon not classed as CPUs as well as other non-x86 CPUs shipped by Intel. They must have shippped a few 10m of the i[89]60 "RISC" chip for intelligent peripherals over the years as well.P. Anyway, you didn't mention the 4004 either... :P

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      UNIX? They're not even circumcised! Savages!
    3. Re:8086 not the first processor... by tomhudson · · Score: 4, Informative
      from about.com
      In November, 1971, a company called Intel publicly introduced the world's first single chip microprocessor, the Intel 4004 (U.S. Patent #3,821,715),
      It was used in several computers, including a build-it-yourself from heathkit, that ran payroll packages, and boxes from several other manufacturers.
  2. Re:The article never really said it... by HowlinMad · · Score: 4, Informative

    Probably not. Ripped from intel.com:

    Based on combined desktop, laptop and server shipment data from industry analyst firm Mercury Research*, Intel has shipped over one billion x86 CPUs as of April 2003, roughly 25 years after the debut of the first 8086 microprocessor on June 8, 1978.

    It was from the x86 family. Have a nice day, thanks for playing.

    --
    Great Linux Site
  3. what about 4004? by eggplantpasta · · Score: 4, Informative
    From the article...
    "Remember the 8086? That was Intel Corp.'s first microprocessor for personal computers in 1978"
    I was sure that intel had a 4004 in about 1971... followed by the 8008 and 8080.
    --
    "Don't forget the prunes." L. Francis Herreshoff
  4. Re:The article never really said it... by Dun+Malg · · Score: 3, Informative
    But would a microcontroller be a "computer chip"? I'd classify it more as an "embedded device chip."

    Heck, the term "computer chip" is so generic that a BCD converter or a DAC fits the definition (sneaks under the wire, barely). A microcontroller most certainly qualifies. Microcontrollers are usually simple CPUs with registers, instruction sets, etc. just like a big CPU. Moot point, though, because they're talking about Intel shipping its billionth x86 family chip.

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    If a job's not worth doing, it's not worth doing right.
  5. Re:AMD Helped Intel with Sales by tomstdenis · · Score: 3, Informative

    I disagree on the basis "fast" is subjective. For example, Athlon XP processors kick the P4 at doing bignum math [something I'm active in]. My 1.53Ghz Athlon would routinely beat out a P4 2Ghz by 25% or more.

    There are really only three good reasons to buy a P4

    1. Cost. It comes with a Dell

    2. Heat. P4s are wickedly better at managing heat.

    3. Multimedia. SSE2 when used properly can woop an Athlon.

    Outside of those three reasons there isn't any other real reason to use a P4. The ALU and FPU of the Athlon are wickedly optimized making it an all around faster processor.

    15 cycle MUL on the P4, nuff said. [hint: the same multiply takes 6 cycles on the Athlon] :-)

    Tom

    --
    Someday, I'll have a real sig.
  6. FYI by mercuryresearch · · Score: 3, Informative

    Just to clarify since a few of you were wondering and we're the source of the information: - It's 1 billion x86 CPUs (8086 thru P4, all flavors). No 8080x, i960s, Xscale, etc is counted. - Intel's figure is 1 billion. AMD is about 200 million units of x86 for the same time frame. Also, Intel never comes out and says what their own data shows, primarily due to reasons related to stock,the SEC and the competion. There were some hints that Intel probably reached 1 billion before external researchers thought they did, but nothing official.

  7. Re:How many has ARM shipped? by Scorchio · · Score: 3, Informative

    I think I can safely say that ARM has shipped approximately 0 processors. They have, however, licenced their technology to a whole range of semiconductor manufacturers, including Intel, who do all the mucking about with silicon and god-knows-what.

    Ok, I'm being a little pedantic.. I'd be interested to know how many ARM processors had been produced by all these manufacturers - must be quite a few!