Computer Chip History

CPUs are examples of integrated circuits, known as computer chips.

Integrated digital circuits are more commonly known as computer chips. Computer chips are used to create the processing components known as central processing units, or CPUs. Miniaturized electrical circuits are printed on layers of silicon to create computer chips, and as the technology develops computer chips get smaller and more powerful.

The First Microchips

The Intel corporation released the first computer chip onto the market in 1971. This was the 4004 four-bit Microcontroller, and it was originally designed for use in a calculator. The first eight-bit processor, Intel's 8008 chip, was released in 1972.

The First Personal Computer

IBM released its first personal computer in 1986. The CPU installed in the first IBM PCs was the Intel 8088, a development of the 16-bit technology that Intel had originally created in 1976 with the 8086 chip. The 8088 had an eight-bit bus---meaning that it had eight electrical pathways---used to connect with other components. This allowed the IBM PC to utilize existing, cheap, eight-bit peripheral hardware.

32 Bits and Beyond

The first 32-bit chip was the Intel 80386, a processor with more than 275,000 transistors capable of managing 4,000,000 calculations per second. Intel chips such as the Q9650 now have multiple 64-bit processors on a single chip.

References

• Compukiss: Processor Chips Explained
• Dev Hardware: Chip History Form 1970 to Today
• Kioskea: What Is A Computer Bus?
• Intel: Intel Core 2 Quad Processor

Resources

• CPU World