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Intel Shipped 1 Billionth Computer Chip

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.

70 of 350 comments (clear)

  1. 1 billion chips by SpanishInquisition · · Score: 5, Funny

    any beer to go with that?

    --
    Je t'aime Stéphanie
    1. Re:1 billion chips by jo42 · · Score: 2, Interesting

      Just imagine all of the pollution and garbage that had to be produced for those billion chips...

  2. obligatory jokes about intel by rootofevil · · Score: 4, Funny

    blah blah blah 999999999th chip blah blah blah divide error blah blah blah

    all futher jokes are now redundant

    --
    turn up the jukebox and tell me a lie
    1. Re:obligatory jokes about intel by FroMan · · Score: 2

      Well, my question is similar, but does it count the chip recalls for those?

      --
      Norris/Palin 2012
      Fact: We deserve leaders who can kick your ass and field dress your carcass.
  3. I'd like to congratulate them but... by frieked · · Score: 5, Funny

    ...Unfortunately their count was thrown off a bit during the early Pentium years... They've really only shipped 999,999,999.999239230823 processors

    --

    I have often regretted my speech, never my silence.
    -Xenocrates
  4. Billions served! by mb12036 · · Score: 3, Funny

    Would you like fries with that?

  5. Yeah but... by happosai_tendo · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Call them the McDonalds of the chip world.
    Soon, their slogan will be "Billions and Billions of chips shipped" (then maybe McDonalds could sue Intel for trademark infringment! woo!)

    My question is how many of those chips are stil actually being used today? huh? How many of those 8086 chips are in use today? (maybe NASA still uses a few, eh?)

    And of course, my final question: Sure, 1 billion chips.. but how many transistors have you shipped on those 1 billion chips?

    1. Re:Yeah but... by HowlinMad · · Score: 5, Funny

      Well the original had 29,000 transistors, and the P4 has about 55 million... so to sum it up... a shitton (thats is a technical term for the number).

    2. Re:Yeah but... by pixelpusher220 · · Score: 5, Funny

      define 'in use'

      I have ancient/old PCs currently serving in a security mode...

      i.e. piled from floor to ceiling infront of the only window with ground access ;-)

      --
      People in cars cause accidents....accidents in cars cause people :-D
  6. Puts pinky finger to lips by numbski · · Score: 5, Funny

    "But why have billions when we can have.....millions?"

    --

    Karma: Chameleon (mostly due to the fact that you come and go).

  7. In other news... by Loki_1929 · · Score: 5, Funny

    AMD released it's AMD-1Billionth today, which the company states is actually rated as it's 17,275,000th processor.

    --
    -- "Government is the great fiction through which everybody endeavors to live at the expense of everybody else."
    1. Re:In other news... by wfberg · · Score: 2, Funny

      AMD released it's AMD-1Billionth today, which the company states is actually rated as it's 17,275,000th processor.


      However, the RIAA announced that actually AMD shipped the equivalent of 3 billion MP3 encoders, mostly straight to music pirates.
      --
      SCO employee? Check out the bounty
  8. Grats to them by Xenius · · Score: 2, Insightful

    I suppose congrats are in order for Intel. Wonder if AMD will ever reach one billion? The real question is....when are they releasing the 3.2Ghz and some price cuts to go along with it?

    --
    - Xenius
  9. Re:The article never really said it... by temojen · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Probably a microcontroller. Most of the manufacturers make way more of those than any other type.

  10. In other news... by select+*+from · · Score: 5, Funny

    Intel ships its 100th Itanium processor.

    By 2007 it should reach the 200 milestone.

  11. Billionth x86 chip, not chips in general by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Interesting

    The article is talking about the billionth x86 chip, not just the billionth chip of any kind. If you included ALL the IC chips that Intel has made since being founded, the number would be closer to 10 billion I would predict.

  12. Microsoft launching an investigation by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    Citing Intel's recent announcement that they have shipped over 1 billion CPUs, and the fact that they have not licensed a billion copies of DOS/Windows, Microsoft has launched a piracy investigation. "It's clear that there are CPU's out there running Windows illegally. The numbers simply do not match up." said Microsoft counsel Mike Rebadow. "We've of course accounted for IBM DOS and DR DOS sold in the 80's, as well as OS/2 which licensed Windows, but that still leaves hundreds of millions of CPUs unaccounted for. Piracy is the only way to explain this."

  13. 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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    3. Re:8086 not the first processor... by rogerl · · Score: 4, Interesting

      The 8088 was actually released before the 8086, but as the article states the 8086 was developed first.

      No, the 8086 did come out first. It had a full 16 bit bus. The 8088 came out later with an 8 bit bus (I think the memory bus, but I am not sure about that) because manufactures were finding it was to expensive to make motherboards based on the 16 bit bus.

    4. 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.
    5. Re:8086 not the first processor... by Loki_1929 · · Score: 4, Interesting

      This site actually has a lot of good info on the early microprocessors, complete with pictures. They've even got info and pictures of the 4004! :)

      --
      -- "Government is the great fiction through which everybody endeavors to live at the expense of everybody else."
  14. I get the sarcasm just fine by gazbo · · Score: 3, Funny
    And as such am allowed to post under your strange ad hoc rules.

    However, that doesn't stop your "joke" from "sucking donkey cocks" and being "-1, Offtopic".

  15. Re:The article never really said it... by KDan · · Score: 2, Informative

    The article said it:
    From the 8086 to today's Intel Pentium 4 processor, Intel Xeon and Intel Centrino mobile technology ...

    They're lumping together all the CPU chips they've ever shipped, from the 8086 to the latest. I imagine they must have shipped a lot more of other types of chips, though.

    Daniel

    --
    Carpe Diem
  16. 10^9th CPU by cperciva · · Score: 5, Interesting

    It sounds like this is actually the billionth *CPU* from Intel, not the billionth chip. Intel produces quite a lot of other silicon in addition to the CPUs it is best known for, and I suspect that Intel actually passed the billion *chip* mark many years ago.

  17. More than one per second by suso · · Score: 5, Interesting

    That's more than 1 per second since 1 billion seconds is almost 32 years.

    1. Re:More than one per second by Veranix · · Score: 2

      I guess running that one press that fast explains those pesky little Pentium bugs.

    2. Re:More than one per second by tomstdenis · · Score: 2, Funny

      Not surprising. Since

      a) They own more than one fabs

      b) They print [cut, etch, whatever] more than one processor per waifer. Its called mass production :-)

      Otherwise we'd be buying a P4 2Ghz processor at a bargain 9500$ or so.

      Tom

      --
      Someday, I'll have a real sig.
    3. Re:More than one per second by micromoog · · Score: 4, Funny

      Unless you're in England. Then 1 billion seconds is almost 32000 years.

    4. Re:More than one per second by Graspee_Leemoor · · Score: 2, Funny

      " Unless you're in England. Then 1 billion seconds is almost 32000 years."

      Wrong, England changed from 1 billion as a million million to the American standard of a thousand million many years ago.

      graspee

  18. a billion eh? by pschmerg · · Score: 5, Funny

    I hear they're planning on releasing a new chip to celebrate this milestone. The chip will be based on the p4 architecture, and will be known as the p4 Type S. It will feature speed increasing kanji stickers, sporty wing, and a custom fan guaranteed to dull your hearing.

    All these new features will come at a bit more of a cost but are guaranteed to increase your cpu's power by 50%.

  19. AMD Helped Intel with Sales by WC+as+Kato · · Score: 3, Insightful

    AMD gave them a run during the 1GHz era but Intel is now ahead of the competition. I'm sure that the competition helped Intel reach this billion mark faster than it would have without competition. AMD with its once faster and cheaper chips helped lower the prices of Intel chips.
    Competition is good for the consumer. Let's see what happens with Intel's prices now that there're on top.

    --
    --- I'm Green Hornet's sidekick not Inspector Clouseau's!
    1. Re:AMD Helped Intel with Sales by toddestan · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Actually, while Intel does have a firm hold of the high end chips, AMD is still killing them in the lower end chips. If you want the fastest computer around, get Intel. But for everyone else, who is looking for the biggest bang for their buck, is buying AMD.

    2. Re:AMD Helped Intel with Sales by Loki_1929 · · Score: 2, Insightful

      " AMD gave them a run during the 1GHz era but Intel is now ahead of the competition."

      I'm sure you don't mean to imply that Intel is far out front of AMD, right? I mean, every bench I see puts the AthlonXP 3000+ pretty close to the P4 @ ~3GHz. The newest P4 on the 800MHz FSB pulls ahead slightly more, but then you have to look at the AthlonXP 3200+ on the 400MHz FSB, which is due out soon and competes quite well with it. There's no doubt that Intel has the performance crown right now, but AMD is most certainly not far behind them. Quite impressive when you consider that the K7 chips were competing with the first PIIIs, and are now in good competition with the latest and greatest P4s.

      --
      -- "Government is the great fiction through which everybody endeavors to live at the expense of everybody else."
    3. 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.
  20. According to the RIAA.... by Lord_Slepnir · · Score: 5, Funny

    There have actually been 50 billion chips shipped. "Some of these chips, such as the 3.06ghz, are as much as 100 times faster than others, allowing pirates to encode music 100 times as fast. Thus, for our numbers, Intel has shipped over 50 billion chips" said RIAA president Hilary Rosen.

    1. Re:According to the RIAA.... by Bigby · · Score: 2, Funny

      There have actually been 50 billion chips shipped, because everyone on earth (~6 billion) wants an average of about 6 computers running on the intel chipset; 2 of which are dual processing machines. Therefore 49 billion have been pirated.

  21. 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.

  22. Hmm... they need a new corporate slogan then... by Bvardi · · Score: 4, Funny

    I'm thinking they should go with
    "Over 1 billion Server'd" ;)

  23. Billions and Billions served... by Randolpho · · Score: 2, Funny

    Sooo..... how soon until they have little golden arches in front with a sign on it that says "Over 1 billion served"?

    --
    "Times have not become more violent. They have just become more televised."
    -Marilyn Manson
  24. 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
    1. Re:what about 4004? by rjamestaylor · · Score: 2, Funny

      4004 Noot Foound

      --
      -- @rjamestaylor on Ello
  25. Wow! by foxtrot · · Score: 3, Funny

    That is one hell of a beowulf cluster!

  26. So... by richie2000 · · Score: 3, Funny

    How many chips would a chipmunk ship if a chipmunk could ship chips?

    --
    Money for nothing, pix for free
  27. In unrelated news... by kzinti · · Score: 4, Funny

    shipped it's One Billionth Chip.

    In an unrelated story, Slashdot served up its one billionth page containing a CmdrTaco grammatical error...

  28. Re:AMD effect ... by tempmpi · · Score: 3, Insightful

    They had already hit the 2 billion by now if AMD hadn't appeared in the scene as it has.
    Why ? AMD hasn't shipped a billion x86 chips yet, so even combined they wouldn't have shipped two billion chips yet. And without competition from AMD their CPUs would still be a lot more expensive and a bit slower, not exactly something that lets you sell more CPUs.

    --
    Jan
  29. fun facts by whovian · · Score: 4, Interesting

    McDonalds opened in the Midwest (Des Plaines, IL, acutally) in 1955.

    Their 50 billionth hamburger was served in New York city in or around 1984.

    That's ~30 years, or an average of 1 2/3 billion per year.

    --
    To-do List: Receive telemarketing call during a tornado warning. Check.
  30. Moores law by mozkill · · Score: 2, Insightful

    ok, so does this mean it will take half as long to get to the 2 billionth computer chip?

    --

    -- Betting on the survival of the media industry is a serious risk. I advise investing elsewhere.
  31. 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.

    --
    If a job's not worth doing, it's not worth doing right.
  32. Uh huh by Glock27 · · Score: 2, Insightful
    they estimate that they will hit 2 billion by only 2007.

    Unless AMD64 takes off, that is...

    --
    Galileo: "The Earth revolves around the Sun!"
    Score: -1 100% Flamebait
  33. What chips are they counting? by Cruel+Angel · · Score: 3, Insightful

    If I recall, in the 486, and possibly 386 days, didn't AMD manufacture over 20% of Intel's processors? I'm sure in the big picture it wasn't all that many, but how arbitrary is this 1 billion?

    --
    Two Rules For Success:
    1) Never tell people everything you know.
  34. Mean clock speed by ktulu1115 · · Score: 2, Interesting

    I wonder what the mean clock speed of those ::with pinky to chin:: 1 billion chips is?

    --
    # fuser -v /dev/attention | grep work
    #
  35. Re:AMD effect ... by Loki_1929 · · Score: 4, Insightful

    "They had already hit the 2 billion by now if AMD hadn't appeared in the scene as it has."

    x86 wouldn't be the dominant chip without AMD. Intel never would have landed the life-giving government contracts without AMD, as government regulations regarding purchasing required that a backup distributor be available with compatible products in case the primary distributor fell on hard times. Intel should be thanking AMD wholeheartedly for their help in securing x86's, and of course, Intel's future as market leaders.

    --
    -- "Government is the great fiction through which everybody endeavors to live at the expense of everybody else."
  36. A techincal Defintion by Lord_Slepnir · · Score: 5, Funny

    Shitton (n.): 1) An ambibously large number, larger than a crapton, but less than a holyfuckton.

  37. Bubba asks about the /. Culture by Arbogast_II · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Am I imagining it, or is it socially unacceptable to say good things about the "Powers That Be" in the IT industry in certain /. circles???

    Now, I have bought many AMD powered PCs, use Linux alot for getting work done, but think Windows is excellent (MS may be dirty dealing, but that's beside my point), and you gotta be blind not to realize Intel has made a gazillion excellent chips, even if like myself, you chose cheaper alternatives.

    It just seems like there are some creepy "Thought Police" types around here anytime something positive is said about corporations like Intel and MS..

    PS, I buy AMD and VIA CPU's cause they are cheap and work, not cause Intel "sux"...

    --


    HenryJamesFeltus.com
  38. Re:The article never really said it... by stanmann · · Score: 2, Informative

    Except the article is wrong. the 8086 was not the first CPU Intel built... that was the 4004, the 8086 wasn't even the first CPU built for use in Personal computers that was either the 8008 or the 8080.

    --
    Food not Bombs is a nice platitude but it breaks down when you notice that the Bombees are usually well fed
  39. Thats..... by Cackmobile · · Score: 2, Funny

    a lot of silicon. Imagine how many implants could be made from them!

    --
    -- Karma Karma Karma Karma, Karma Chameleon - Boy George
  40. History of the 8086 processor family by baywulf · · Score: 2, Informative

    Intel has a very interesting reading on their website about the history of the 8086 processor and how it was developed.

    http://www.intel.com/technology/itj/q12001/artic le s/art_1.htm

  41. Re:whose estimate? by AllMightyPaul · · Score: 2, Informative

    Whoops, it appears that it has been announced on their website, too. Ok, I am no longer skeptical.

    Press Release

  42. just remember by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Even if all those cpus were operational and in computers - that would only be one for every sixth person in the world.... that scares me.

    Blah-blah half-the-world-has-yet-to-make-a-phone-call: I know poverty is something you can easily ignore, and that (asides from being offtopic, or is it?) it probably gets brought up in the wrong way by people with good intentions try to change your mind. I hope this will be a little different.

    In addition to our computers, we have a telephony system upon which to network those computers. In addition to that we have the technical power to create new systems of operation on top of these raw systems for our enjoyment (pr0n, mp3s etc...) and for our communication (emails, IM/IRC)... It struck me just a moment ago that so many people volunteer their time to GNU stuff, community stuff. I thank you for this...but.

    But perhaps we should also consider the social networks in which we are nodes, networks of trade, cultural networks, networks of humanity. Perhaps you should shut off your screen for a moment, and do something good for those networks not just this one.
    meh, I dunno "Stuff that matters". Think about it.

  43. And TI ships billions this year by afidel · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Remember TI ships more chips each year than Frito Lay! Yeah they aren't as sexy or nearly as high margin as x86 cpu's but they are the little microcontrollers that make computers basically ubiquotous in our world.

    --
    There are 4 boxes to use in the defense of liberty: soap, ballot, jury, ammo. Use in that order. Starting now.
  44. How many of the 1G already in the landfill? by ewg · · Score: 3, Interesting

    I wonder what fraction of these one billion have already been obsoleted and are now sitting in landfills?

    Given Moore's Law, I'll bet it's a high share.

    --
    org.slashdot.post.SignatureNotFoundException: ewg
  45. Intel Processor Production follows the equation by DotComVictim · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Thus,

    13139006 * e^(.17329 * x)

    Where x is in years is the cumulative output of Intel.

    This allows us to calculate with high accuracy the size of Intel's production line, a secret coveted by industry insiders. Differentiating, we have:

    2276816 * e^(.17329 * x)

    Thus, Intel currently has 173 million processors in various production stages.
    This allows us to calculate another secret, coveted by all geeks - the true value of an Intel CPU.

    Intel's current market capitalization is 141.6 billion US$. Based on their Q1 2003 quarterly report, 53.6% of their cost of production (including R&D and other expenses) goes into the Intel Architecture business unit.

    If we know the size of the production line, the current valuation, and the percentage dedicated to CPU production, we can compute an average valuation for an Intel CPU.

    Each current issue Intel CPU should be worth, on average .536*141.6e9/173e6 dollars. That works out to $438.67 Current list prices for the Intel Pentium III, 3.06 GHz, range from $365-$759.99, with an average price listing of $459.53.

    Conclusion - for every current release Intel CPU you buy, on average you are being ripped off by about $20.86, about 4.75% the value of the product. That is less than sales tax, and doesn't seem like the work of a greed hungry power monster.

    Any similar statistics on Microsoft's product valuation would be highly interesting.

    1. Re:Intel Processor Production follows the equation by 26199 · · Score: 2, Informative

      Er... differentiating would give rate of production, which on its own isn't enough to tell you how many are in production at the moment.

      If you're working with years as the time unit, assuming rate = current number in production is equivalent to assuming it takes a year to make one chip...

      Unless you got the 173 million figure from somewhere else?

    2. Re:Intel Processor Production follows the equation by pork_spies · · Score: 2, Insightful

      on average you are being ripped off by about $20.86
      Isn't this what is known as profit?

  46. The internet these days... by TopShelf · · Score: 3, Funny

    And just imagine all the pollution and garbage that's produced with those billion chips!

    --
    Stop by my site where I write about ERP systems & more
  47. 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.

  48. In related news by nusuth · · Score: 2, Funny

    AMD has shipped its 1,000,000,000+th CPU. An AMD spokesperson told us the number is not to be compared with Intel's shipments. Instead it based on the ratio of pin count of shipped CPUs. A CPU with twice as many pins as an AMD 80386 gets a shipment rating of 2+. With the recent launch of 4-way Opterons, AMD expects to reach 2,000,000,000+ mark next week, the spokesperson added.

    --

    Gentlemen, you can't fight in here, this is the War Room!

  49. 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!