Year | Event |
1823 | Baron Jons Jackob Berzelius
discovers silicon (Si), which today is the basic component of processors. |
1903 | Nikola Tesla patents electrical logic circuits called "gates" or "switches". |
1947 | John Bardeen, Walter Brattain, and William Shockley invent the first transistor at the Bell Laboratories on December 23, 1947. |
1948 | John Bardeen, Walter Brattain, and William Shockley patent the first transistor. |
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1956 | John Bardeen, Walter Brattain, and William Shockley are awarded the Nobel Prize in physics for their work on the transistor. |
1958 | The first integrated circuit is first developed by Robert Noyce of Fairchild Semiconductor and Jack Kilby of Texas Instruments. The first IC was demonstrated on September 12, 1958. |
1960 | IBM develops the first automatic mass-production facility for transistors in New York. |
1968 | Intel Corporation is founded by Robert Noyce and Gordon Moore. |
1969 | Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) is founded on May 1, 1969. |
|
1971 | Intel with the help of Ted Hoff introduces the first microprocessor, the Intel 4004
on November 15, 1971. The 4004 had 2,300 transistors, performed 60,000
operations per second (OPS), addressed 640 bytes of memory, and cost
$200.00. |
1972 | Intel introduces the 8008 processor on April 1, 1972. |
1974 | Intel's improved microprocessor chip is introduced April 1, 1974, the 8080 becomes a standard in the computer industry. |
1976 | Intel introduces the 8085 processor on March 1976. |
1976 | The Intel 8086 is introduced June 8, 1976. |
1979 | The Intel 8088 is released on June 1, 1979. |
1979 | The Motorola 68000, a 16/32-bit processor is released and is later chosen as the processor for the Apple Macintosh and Amiga computers. |
1982 | The Intel 80286 is introduced February 1, 1982. |
1985 | Intel introduces the first 80386 in October 1985. |
1987 | The SPARC processor is first introduced by Sun. |
1988 | Intel 80386SX is introduced. |
1991 | AMD introduces the AM386 microprocessor family in March. |
1991 | Intel introduces the Intel 486SX chip in April in efforts to help bring a lower-cost processor to the PC market selling for $258.00. |
1992 | Intel releases the 486DX2 chip March 2 with a clock doubling ability that generates higher operating speeds. |
1993 | Intel releases the Pentium processor on March 22 1993. The processor is a 60 MHz processor, incorporates 3.1 million transistors and sells for $878.00. |
1994 | Intel releases the second generation of Intel Pentium processors on March 7, 1994. |
1995 | Intel introduces the Intel Pentium Pro in November of 1995. |
1996 | Intel announces the availability of the Pentium 150 MHz with 60MHz bus and 166 MHz with 66 MHz bus on January 4th. |
1996 | AMD
introduces the K5 processor on March 27, 1996, with speeds of 75 MHz to
133 MHz and bus speeds of 50 MHz, 60 MHz, or 66 MHz. The K5 is the
first processor developed completely in-house by AMD. |
1997 | AMD releases their K6 processor line in April of 1997, with speeds of 166 MHz to 300 MHz and a 66 MHz bus speed. |
1997 | Intel Pentium II is introduced on May 7, 1997. |
1998 | AMD
introduces their new K6-2 processor line on May 28, 1998, with speeds
of 266 MHz to 550 MHz and bus speeds of 66 MHz to 100 MHz. The K6-2
processor is an enhanced version of AMD's K6 processor. |
1998 | Intel releases the first Xeon processor, the Pentium II Xeon 400 (512K or 1M Cache, 400 MHz, 100 MHz FSB) in June of 1998. |
1999 | Intel releases the Celeron 366 MHz and 400 MHz processors on January 4, 1999. |
1999 | AMD
released its K6-III processors on February 22, 1999, with speeds of 400
MHz or 450 MHz and bus speeds of 66MHz to 100 MHz. It also featured an
on-die L2 cache. |
1999 | The Intel Pentium III 500 MHz is released on February 26, 1999. |
1999 | The Intel Pentium III 550 MHz is released on May 17, 1999. |
1999 | AMD introduced the Athlon
processor series on June 23, 1999. The Athlon would be produced for the
next 6 years in speeds ranging from 500 MHz up to 2.33 GHz. |
1999 | The Intel Pentium III 600 MHz is released on August 2, 1999. |
1999 | The Intel Pentium III 533B and 600B MHz is released on September 27, 1999. |
1999 | The Intel Pentium III Coppermine series is first introduced on October 25, 1999. |
2000 | On January 5, AMD releases the 800 MHz Athlon processor. |
2000 | Intel releases the Celeron 533 MHz with a 66 MHz bus processor on January 4th. |
2000 | AMD first released the Duron
processor on June 19, 2000, with speeds of 600 MHz to 1.8 GHz and bus
speeds of 200 MHz to 266 MHz. The Duron was built on the same K7
architecture as the Athlon processor. |
2000 | Intel
announces on August 28th that it will recall its 1.3 GHz Pentium III
processors due to a glitch. Users with these processors should contact
their vendors for additional information about the recall. |
2001 | On January 3, Intel releases the 800 MHz Celeron processor with a 100 MHz bus. |
2001 | On January 3 Intel releases the 1.3 GHz Pentium 4 processor. |
2001 | AMD
announces a new branding scheme on October 9, 2001. Instead of
identifying processors by their clock speed, the AMD Athlon XP
processors will bear monikers of 1500+, 1600+, 1700+, 1800+, 1900+,
2000+, etc., with each higher model number representing a higher clock
speed. |
2002 | Intel releases the Celeron 1.3 GHz with a 100 MHz bus and 256 kB of level 2 cache. |
2003 | Intel Pentium M is introduced in March. |
2003 | AMD releases the first single-core Opteron processors, with speeds of 1.4 GHz to 2.4 GHz and 1024 KB L2 cache, on April 22, 2003. |
2003 | AMD
releases the first Athlon 64 processors, the 3200+ (2.0 GHz, 1024 KB L2
cache), and the first Athlon 64 FX processor, the FX-51 (2.2 GHz, 1024
KB L2 cache), on September 23, 2003. |
2004 | AMD releases the first Sempron processor on July 28, 2004, with a 1.5 GHz to 2.0 GHz clock speed and 166 MHz bus speed. |
2005 | AMD releases their first dual-core processor, the Athlon 64 X2 3800+ (2.0 GHz, 512 KB L2 cache per core), on April 21, 2005. |
2006 | Intel releases the Core 2 Duo processor E6320 (4M Cache, 1.86 GHz, 1066 MHz FSB) April 22, 2006. |
2006 | Intel
introduces the Intel Core 2 Duo processors with the Core 2 Duo
processor E6300 (2M Cache, 1.86 GHz, 1066 MHz FSB) July 27, 2006. |
2006 | Intel introduces the Intel Core 2 Duo processor for the laptop computer with the Core 2 Duo processor T5500 (2M Cache, 1.67 GHz, 667 MHz FSB), as well as other Core 2 Duo T series processors, in August 2006. |
2007 | Intel releases the Core 2 Quad processor Q6600 (8M Cache, 2.40 GHz, 1066 MHz FSB) in January 2007. |
2007 | Intel releases the Core 2 Duo processor E4300 (2M Cache, 1.80 GHz, 800 MHz FSB) January 21, 2007. |
2007 | Intel releases the Core 2 Quad processor Q6700 (8M Cache, 2.67 GHz, 1066 MHz FSB) in April 2007. |
2007 | Intel releases the Core 2 Duo processor E4400 (2M Cache, 2.00 GHz, 800 MHz FSB) April 22, 2007. |
2007 | AMD
renames the Athlon 64 X2 processor line to just Athlon X2 and releases
the first in that line, the Brisbane series (1.9 to 2.6 GHz, 512KB L2
Cache) on June 1, 2007. |
2007 | Intel releases the Core 2 Duo processor E4500 (2M Cache, 2.20 GHz, 800 MHz FSB) July 22, 2007. |
2007 | Intel releases the Core 2 Duo processor E4600 (2M Cache, 2.40 GHz, 800 MHz FSB) October 21, 2007. |
2007 | AMD releases the first Phenom X4 processors (2M Cache, 1.8 GHz to 2.6 GHz, 1066 MHz FSB) on November 19, 2007. |
2008 | Intel
releases the Core 2 Quad processor Q9300 (6M Cache, 2.50 GHz, 1333 MHz
FSB) and the Core 2 Quad processor Q9450 (12M Cache, 2.67 GHz, 1333 MHz
FSB) in March 2008. |
2008 | Intel releases the Core 2 Duo processor E4700 (2M Cache, 2.60 GHz, 800 MHz FSB) March 2, 2008. |
2008 | AMD releases the first Phenom X3 processors (2M Cache, 2.1 GHz to 2.5 GHz, 1066 MHz FSB) on March 27, 2008. |
2008 | Intel releases the Core 2 Duo processor E7200 (3M Cache, 2.53 GHz, 1066 MHz FSB) on April 20, 2008. |
2008 | Intel releases the Core 2 Duo processor E7300 (3M Cache, 2.66 GHz, 1066 MHz FSB) August 10, 2008. |
2008 | Intel
releases several Core 2 Quad processors in August 2008: the Q8200 (4M
Cache, 2.33 GHz, 1333 MHz FSB), the Q9400 (6M Cache, 2.67 GHz, 1333 MHz
FSB), and the Q9650 (12M Cache, 3.00 GHz, 1333 MHz FSB) |
2008 | Intel releases the Core 2 Duo processor E7400 (3M Cache, 2.80 GHz, 1066 MHz FSB) October 19, 2008. |
2008 | Intel releases the first Core i7
Desktop processors in November 2008: the i7-920 (8M Cache, 2.67 GHz,
1066 MHz FSB), the i7-940 (8M Cache, 2.93 GHz, 1066 MHz FSB), and the
i7-965 Extreme Edition (8M Cache, 3.2 GHz, 1066 MHz FSB). |
2009 | AMD releases the first Phenom II X4 (quad core) processors (6M Cache, 2.5 to 3.7 GHz, 1066 MHZ or 1333 MHz FSB) on January 8, 2009. |
2009 | Intel releases the Core 2 Duo processor E7500 (3M Cache, 2.93 GHz, 1066 MHz FSB) January 18, 2009 |
2009 | AMD
releases the first Phenom II X3 (triple core) processors (6M Cache, 2.5
to 3.0 GHz, 1066 MHZ or 1333 MHz FSB) on February 9, 2009. |
2009 | Intel releases the Core 2 Quad processor Q8400 (4M Cache, 2.67 GHz, 1333 MHz FSB) in April 2009 |
2009 | Intel releases the Core 2 Duo processor E7600 (3M Cache, 3.06 GHz, 1066 MHz FSB) May 31, 2009 |
2009 | AMD releases the first Athlon II X2 (dual core) processors (1024KB L2 Cache, 1.6 to 3.5 GHz, 1066 MHZ or 1333 MHz FSB) in June 2009. |
2009 | AMD releases the first Phenom II X2 (dual core) processors (6M Cache, 3.0 to 3.5 GHz, 1066 MHZ or 1333 MHz FSB) on June 1, 2009. |
2009 | AMD releases the first Athlon II X4 (quad core) processors (512KB L2 Cache, 2.2 to 3.1 GHz, 1066 MHZ or 1333 MHz FSB) in September 2009. |
2009 | Intel releases the first Core i5 Desktop processor with 2 cores, the i5-750 (8M Cache, 2.67 GHz, 1333 MHz FSB), on September 8, 2009 |
2009 | AMD releases the first Athlon II X3 (triple core) processors (512KB L2 Cache, 2.2 to 3.4 GHz, 1066 MHZ or 1333 MHz FSB) in October 2009. |
2010 | Intel releases the Core 2 Quad processor Q9500 (6M Cache, 2.83 GHz, 1333 MHz FSB) in January 2010 |
2010 | Intel releases the first Core i5
Mobile processors, the i5-430M (3M Cache, 2.27 GHz, 1066 MHz FSB) and
the i5-520E (3M Cache, 2.4 GHZ, 1066 MHz FSB) in January 2010 |
2010 | Intel releases the first Core i5 Desktop processor over 3.0 GHz, the i5-650 (4M Cache, 3.20 GHz, 1333 MHz FSB) in January 2010 |
2010 | Intel releases the first Core i3
Desktop processors, the i3-530 (4M Cache, 2.93 GHz, 1333 MHz FSB) and
the i3-540 (4M Cache, 3.06 GHz, 1333 MHz FS), on January 7, 2010 |
2010 | Intel releases the first Core i3
Mobile processors, the i3-330M (3M Cache, 2.13 GHz, 1066 MHz FSB) and
the i3-350M (3M Cache, 2.27 GHz, 1066 MHz FSB), on January 7, 2010 |
2010 | AMD
releases the first Phenom II X6 (hex/six core) processors (6M Cache,
2.6 to 3.3 GHz... or 3.7 GHz with Turbo Core) on April 27, 2010. |
2011 | Intel releases seven new Core i5 processors with 4 cores, the i5-2xxx series (6M Cache, 2.3 GHz to 3.3 GHz) in January 2011 |
2011 | AMD
releases the first mobile processors in their A4 line, the A4-3300M (2M
L2 Cache, 1.9 GHz, 1333 MHz FSB) and the A4-3310MX (2M L2 Cache, 2.1
GHz, 1333 MHz FSB) on June 14, 2011. |
2011 | AMD
releases the first mobile processors in their A6 line, the A6-3400M (4M
L2 Cache, 1.4 GHz, 1333 MHz FSB) and the A6-3410MX (4M L2 Cache, 1.6
GHz, 1600 MHz FSB) on June 14, 2011. |
2011 | AMD
releases the first mobile processors in their A8 line, the A8-3500M (4M
L2 Cache, 1.5 GHz, 1333 MHz FSB), the A8-3510MX (4M L2 Cache, 1.8 GHz,
1600 MHz FSB), and the A8-3530MX (4M L2 Cache, 1.9 GHz, 1600 MHz FSB) on
June 14, 2011. |
2011 | AMD releases the first desktop processor in their A6 line, the A6-3650 (4M L2 Cache, 2.6 GHz, 1866 MHz FSB) on June 30, 2011. |
2011 | AMD releases the first desktop processor in their A8 line, the A8-3850 (4M L2 Cache, 2.9 GHz, 1866 MHz FSB) on June 30, 2011. |
2011 | AMD
releases the first desktop processors in their A4 line, the A4-3300
(1024KB L2 Cache, 2.5 GHz, 1600 MHz FSB) and the A4-3400 (1024KB L2
Cache, 2.7 GHz, 1600 MHz FSB) on September 7, 2011. |
2012 | AMD
releases the first desktop processors in their A10 line, the A10-5700
(4M L2 Cache, 3.4 GHz or 4.0 GHz in Turbo mode, 1866 MHz FSB) and the
A10-5800K (4M L2 Cache, 3.8 GHz or 4.2 GHz in Turbo mode, 1866 MHz FSB)
on October 1, 2012. |