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Chips Pass Two Billion Milestone

news.bbc.co.uk — The first chip to pack more than two billion transistors has been launched by silicon giant Intel.

Who dugg this? Made popular Feb 5, 2008

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  • inactive, on 02/05/2008, -0/+20Moore's Law rules. Nice to see that, they can pick 2 billion transistors Using 65nm technology.
  • livejamie, on 02/05/2008, -2/+19Those pringles tubes are incredible
  • slapded, on 02/05/2008, -2/+19i thought it said chimps
  • BradGroux, on 02/05/2008, -3/+20Am I the only one that thought of Poncherello and Baker upon reading the title?
  • BrandonB1218, on 02/05/2008, -0/+10Considering the Core 2 Quad 65nm only has 582 MILLION then I would say 2 BILLION is a ***** ton. That's a huge leap.
  • lamprey187, on 02/05/2008, -0/+10I want one
  • DarkDx, on 02/05/2008, -0/+8Skynet is even closer my friends!
  • j01101010, on 02/05/2008, -0/+8I want four.
  • scabbers, on 02/05/2008, -0/+78008: 3.5K transistors 14 mm^2
    6800: 4.1K transistors 16 mm^2
    8080: 4.8K transistors 20 mm^2
    1802: 5K transistors 27 mm^2
    6502: 4K transistors 21 mm^2
    Z80: 8.5K transistors 18 mm^2
    8085: 6.5K transistors 20 mm^2
    8086: 29K transistors 33 mm^2
    8088: 29K transistors 33 mm^2
    Z8001 17.5K transistors 39 mm^2
    68000 68K transistors 44 mm^2
    6809: 9K transistors 21 mm^2
  • glacius99, on 02/05/2008, -0/+6Call me when they hit 3 TRILLION! Hey-ooh!
  • iZealot, on 02/05/2008, -0/+4My friend sells Idiot Proof PC's as well!

    http://www.apple.com/store

    ZiNG!
  • glinsvad, on 02/05/2008, -0/+4Me too... I even had a mental picture of a chimp riding a unicycle
  • ericcire, on 02/05/2008, -0/+4Commander Data says: That's nothing! I got more transistors in my left testicle.
  • PayneX, on 02/05/2008, -0/+3But only after they've become self-aware.
  • PayneX, on 02/05/2008, -0/+3You're not only on the wrong website, you're on the wrong web.
  • inactive, on 02/05/2008, -0/+3http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N8 ...

    Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 45nm Wolfdale
  • plamoni, on 02/05/2008, -0/+3If you're trying to make sense of the above, it's giving the number of transistors and the die size of each chip. You can do the math and find the number of transistors per square mm (about the size of the tip of a pencil):

    Chip Tran sisters per mm^2
    8008 250
    6800 256
    8080 240
    1802 185
    6502 190
    Z80 472
    8085 325
    8086 879
    8088 879
    Z8001 449
    68000 1545
    6809 429

    These are all pretty old chips, for instance, the 68000 (aka 68K) was used in the original Apple Macintosh computers, and the 8080 was used in a lot of old video games, such as the original Space Invaders.

    Oh, yeah, and the new Tukwila chip? That clocks in at just about 2,860,000 transistors per square millimeter, or almost 2000x as dense as the 68K.

    For the Moore's law fans out there, the 68K was developed in 1979, that's 29 years ago, or about 19 18-month periods. 2^19 ~ 500,000. So, in theory, the Tukwila should be about 500,000 times as dense as the 68000. Obviously, it's not. But 2000 times as dense implies a doubling of density every 3 years or so, which isn't bad in itself.
  • known, on 02/05/2008, -1/+3I think every Microprocessor Chip deserves a vote in US presidential elections...
  • alexp2ad, on 02/05/2008, -0/+2What a quote:

    Cache memory holds data to be processed by the chip. The closer it is to the processor, the quicker the data can be crunched.

    "It's like the difference between getting food from the fridge, rather than from the corner shop," said Mr Penn.
  • Gizza, on 02/06/2008, -0/+2I hate to tell you this, but quantum computing has nothing to do with how many transistors can fit on a chip. It's a completely different technology which is already being research and developed by other companies such as D-Wave http://www.dwavesys.com/.
    Apparently they have already shown a basic working quantum computer.
  • mashw, on 02/05/2008, -0/+1Ok, someone explain what that all means to us simpletons please.
  • Gizza, on 02/06/2008, -0/+1Its pretty hard to imagine almost 3 million of anything in the space of the tip of a pen.
  • crabesa, on 02/05/2008, -3/+4dear god
  • majormar, on 02/05/2008, -1/+2I was just about to post the same. I totally read "CHiPs" and immediately started humming the theme song. Daaa Daaa Da Da Daaa. LOL
  • MWeather, on 02/05/2008, -0/+1 They're already using it.
  • precip, on 02/05/2008, -0/+1Will you still respect this chip in the morning? In the 1980's, "going to Tukwila" meant doing the nasty in Seattle slang.
  • getrealnow, on 02/05/2008, -0/+1Different sizes, Different speeds, Different memory transistors?
  • lyssword, on 02/06/2008, -0/+1NOT 65 nm. It's 45nm design. And actual number of transistors for processor prolly around 100mill, rest of it is to make L2/L1 cache.
  • kcornwell, on 02/05/2008, -1/+2I'm selling them in my new line of PC's...

    http://www.idiotproofcomputer.com
  • getrealnow, on 02/05/2008, -0/+1This won't be on a market for a long time, 2 billion transistors in a CPU 65mn would cost a ***** load. Not only that, I am not sure there is a Mobo that can handle that kind of speed yet.
  • cphelps, on 02/05/2008, -1/+1I'm curious how much they sacrificed on power consumption as stated in the article. I'm sure in the environments this is meant for it won't make a massive difference, but I'm still curious.
  • suprxtragrav, on 12/09/2008, -1/+1haha eat that, QX9770.
  • drizzlelicious, on 02/05/2008, -1/+1Ridiculous.
  • lamprey187, on 02/05/2008, -1/+1good point
  • inactive, on 02/06/2008, -1/+1Quantum computing here we come.
  • hcharger, on 02/06/2008, -0/+0 Would you kindly like to explain your comment with a little more detail?
  • inactive, on 02/05/2008, -0/+0Reminds me of an old joke.

    A truly idiot proof application would run inside of a sealed metal box with only one external button; clearly labeled "Punch you in the face." Of course, the button isn't actually hooked up to anything which will eventually frustrate the user to the point where they call tech support. The tech will then tell the user that the button issue is a known bug. They will then be told that the current best workaround is to punch themselves in the face manually until the patch is released.
  • devolver, on 02/05/2008, -3/+1This is Intel's answer to AMD's Phenom processor, which houses 4 separate cores (unlike the Core2 Quad, essentially 2 Core2 duos strapped onto each other).

    Nice try AMD, looks like you've lost another battle.
  • BoneheadFarker, on 02/05/2008, -2/+0Not in this line. And not in full-production lines yet. Most CPUs made now are using the 65nm tech. When they start using the 45nm tech for regular consumer chips, then we'll see some really cool *****...until the 32nm chips come out...
  • Innisskillin, on 02/05/2008, -7/+32 billion? That's it?
  • hcharger, on 02/05/2008, -6/+0 I mean, when is this technology ***** gonna stop? How much power does a person need in a computer? Everytime they go into research for faster processors, larger hard drives, multigig memory, it obsoletes the previous models being sold to less than 3 to 6 months.
    I think its totally insane. With more advanced technology creating wiz kids today, how on earth are these same people ever going to learn practicality skills for survival when the bottom falls out
  • BoneheadFarker, on 02/05/2008, -7/+0I can't wait for them to start using the 45nm tech...

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