Evolution of Computer Processor : Intel at a Glance [Part-1]

The Processor is the heart of a Computer , the development  of processors began in Late 1960s and Intel came out with the first ever Processor 4004 in 1971 which was a 4 bit microprocessor and now we have advanced so much that we use microprocessors like i3 , i5 and i7. So in this post we will explore different phases of microprocessor development .
The Infographic shown below shows the different phases of microprocessors in 1971 and its gradual development  from 4 bit 4004 in 1971 to 2nd Generation i7 in 2012.

History / Evolution of Microprocessors :

1. Intel 4004 :

• Year of introduction : 1971
• 4 bit microprocessor with 2300 transistors
• 4 KB main memory
•  Used PMOS technology 

2. Intel 8008:

• Year Of Introduction : 1972
• First 8 bit microprocessor , 48 instructions
•  16 KB main memory , was slow.

3. Intel 8080 :

• Year of introduction : 1973
• 8-bit microprocessor 
• 64 Kb main memory
• It was faster than 8008 and can handle 50k instructions per second.
• Used NMOS technology.
• Considered as the first General purpose micro-processor.

4. Intel 8085 :

• Year of Introduction : 1976
• Used only one +5V power supply rather than 3 Power supply needed in earlier 8080.
• 8 bit microprocessor 
• 40 Pin DIP

5. Intel 8086 :

•  Year : 1978
• 16 bit microprocessor.
• 1 Mb main memory.
• It became an Industry Standard.
• 16 bit data bus width.

6. Intel 8088 :

•  Year : 1979
• 8088 was a 16 bit microprocessor and contained 29000 transistors.
• Chosen for the first IBM Pc.

 7. Intel 80286 :

• Year of Introduction : 1982
• High Performance - 16 bit microprocessor with memory mgmt. & protection.
• 16 MB main memory
• Instruction execution time was low as 250 ns

8. Intel 80386 :

• Launched in  Year : 1986
• Intel's First Practical  and advanced 32 bit Microprocessor.
• Also known as i386 or  386 
• First Personal Computer that made use of 80386 was developed by Compaq.
• Max Cpu Clock rate : 12 Mhz to 40 Mhz.

9. Intel 80486 :

• Launched in 1989
• 32 Bit microprocessor 
• 4GB main memory
• Execute up to 40 million instructions per second.
• A 8 k byte Cache on the package.
• By the use of Pipelining , Instruction get executed in 1 clock rather than 2 clocks used in 386.

Rest of the Microprocessor are Continued in the 2nd Part of This post.....

Still more to come , Read how we headed to Powerful  2nd Generation  Intel  Processors  of 2012 with significant improvement in Configuration , memory capacity and Technology.