Máy Tính 486, 586 (Giao Lưu, Trao Đổi Về Cpu), The (Almost) Definitive 486Dx/50 Article
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1960s
One of the most important institutions in high giải pháp công nghệ history began when Robert Noyce and Gordon Moore, two of the best-known figures in semiconductor technology, decided to form a new company together. Together with a small cadre of colleagues and connections drawn from their years in the Silicon Valley tech industry, Noyce và Moore phối out to lớn create a new kind of company, one dedicated lớn continuous innovation and the firm belief that their technologies would change the world.
1968
Intel was established when Robert Noyce & Gordon Moore, already leaders in the Silicon Valley tech industry for their work on integrated circuits, decided to form a new company that would let them pursue innovation on their own terms. The company"s first year would be shaped largely by startup considerations — raising capital, finding facilities and even just determining a new name for the company — but even in these early operations one can see the roots of the global tech giant hãng sản xuất intel would eventually become.
1969
Intel"s first full calendar year of operations saw a lot of landmark developments for the company — including its first product, first sale và first hình ảnh sản phẩm — along with several key innovations, most notably metal-oxide semiconductor & silicon gate technologies.
1970s
A young hãng intel grew to be one of the biggest, most important companies in tech. The company introduced several industry-changing technologies that paved the way for inexpensive computing to lớn become ubiquitous in modern life. Most importantly, the company introduced the world"s first programmable microprocessor, followed by several generations of improvements that helped the device reach ever-greater levels of application. Meanwhile, corporate growth kept pace with its technological prowess as intel moved into new facilities, new countries & new business avenues at an astonishing pace.
1970
A still-young hãng intel continued to shock the semiconductor industry. The company released the 1103 dynamic random-access memory (DRAM), which established semiconductors as the new industry standard for memory (replacing magnetic chip core memories), broke ground on its first company-owned facility and embraced a bold new biểu ngữ that emphasized its commitment khổng lồ making the theoretical possible: "Intel Delivers." Not bad for a company in only its third year of operation.
1971
Intel developed multiple products that would change the future of technology. Most importantly, the company introduced the world"s first electronically programmable microprocessor, the 4004, a conceptual breakthrough that would transform Intel and drive the rise of the modern digital age. Complementing that development was the world"s first electrically programmable read-only memory (EPROM), which would make microprocessor development cheaper and easier. Meanwhile, the company took several steps at the corporate level to facilitate continued expansion và innovation, including its IPO & the construction of the first company-owned facility.
1972
Intel expanded its operations on multiple fronts. The company augmented its manufacturing operations geographically & technologically, opening a facility in Penang, Malaysia, & converting from 50mm (2-inch) to 75mm (3-inch) silicon wafers in its cpu production process. The company added to lớn its hàng hóa offerings with the SIM 4 and SIM 8 design aids and the release of its second processor, the 8008. Lastly, intel acquired digital watchmaker Microma, bringing it into consumer electronics & liquid crystal displays (LCDs).
1973
Intel took several steps to lớn lay the groundwork for future growth. The new Intellec series offered software development tools for intel processors, boosting Intel"s sales while easing designers" embrace of microprocessors. A new communications strategy helped the company refine its advertisements to better convey how the “Intel micro computer works.” The company’s now-iconic clean room suits came into their first use at a new wafer fabrication facility in Livermore, Calif. — Intel"s first outside of Silicon Valley. And finally, in a sign of the company’s plans for growth, a massive hiring ramp-up more than doubled Intel’s workforce.
1974
Intel released the 8080 microprocessor, destined lớn go down as one of the most important products in tech history, và saw several major milestones for its corporate operations, including two new international facilities (in the Philippines and Israel) và several key sales milestones.
1975
Intel experienced a year of challenges & triumphs. The company"s hardware was used to power one of the first personal computers, the Altair 8800. It also introduced several breakthrough technologies, including an industry-standard bus architecture and the company"s first in-circuit emulator. Its corporate operations successfully navigated first a big leadership transition when Gordon Moore succeeded Robert Noyce as chief executive, và then a catastrophic challenge to its production chain after a fire destroyed its facility in Penang, Malaysia. Meanwhile, the company learned a lesson in marketing with the creation of its first television commercial.
1976
Intel took several key steps to continue the proliferation of microprocessors in modern life. The company developed its first microcontrollers, heralding the beginning of a new world of microchip-controlled machines và household devices. The company also released the industry’s first single-board computer, the i
SBC 80/10, to aid system designers và accelerate the proliferation of microprocessor devices. Meanwhile, the company"s first fabrication facility outside of California would boost its production capacity lớn meet demand. Record-setting revenues và earnings would show the wisdom of the company"s approach.
1977
A record number of new products allowed hãng sản xuất intel to continue laying the groundwork for a digital world. Among other innovations, the company announced a huge step forward for telecommunications with the first single-chip codec, pioneered new technologies in magnetic bubble memories & created a new industry standard with the 2116 EPROM. As the demand for semiconductors picked up and the company"s range of offerings expanded, the company would xuất hiện a new assembly plant on the island of Barbados.
1978
Intel celebrated its 10th anniversary by launching one landmark processor, the 8086, starting development of another, the 80286, và initiating a new fellowship program to lớn foster still more R&D. The company didn"t forget to buổi tiệc ngọt either, bringing thousands of employees together for a massive anniversary celebration.
1979
Intel wrapped up the 1970s in triumph, making its debut on the Fortune 500 list while continuing to launch innovative products and possibly an even more innovative marketing campaign. The company"s leadership structure continued khổng lồ evolve to lớn keep up with these advances as CEO Gordon Moore added the title of chairman & Andy Grove became president and COO.
1980s
Semiconductors continued khổng lồ make inroads into every aspect of American life with hãng intel leading the way. The launch of the IBM PC in 1981 heralded the beginning of a decade where the personal computer would come into its own as a business tool, while breakthroughs in other areas of semiconductor engineering expanded Intel"s reach in everything from cars khổng lồ supercomputing. The company’s victories were hampered by multiple industrywide slumps, however, which hãng intel met with its characteristic combination of innovation và commitment.
1980
Intel continued khổng lồ define the technology of the digital age, debuting the industry-changing 8051 microcontroller, helping lớn create the Ethernet standard, adding to lớn the capabilities of the 8086 with the introduction of the 8087 coprocessor and electrically erasable và programmable memory, all while weathering natural disasters from California to the Caribbean.
1981
A national recession brought unprecedented economic hardship for Intel, but employees stepped up to keep things moving through the company"s famous "125% Solution" program. Their commitment paid off, as hãng intel debuted new, innovative products like the 86/330 microcomputer system và the industry"s first 64K EPROM. The biggest story of the year, however, was the most important thiết kế win in Intel"s history: IBM"s decision lớn use hãng sản xuất intel processors lớn power its new personal computer.
1982
Intel kept pushing through the ongoing recession with a little help from some friends. IBM bought a temporary stake in the company in a show of confidence and support, while years of courting Ford Motor Co. Finally paid off with one of the biggest kiến thiết wins in company history. Meanwhile, advances in both memory và microprocessor technologies demonstrated that tough times don"t weaken the company"s commitment to lớn innovation.
1983
Intel bounced back from the two-year recession in a big way. The company opened its largest fabrication facility up to lớn that point, powered the landmark Compaq Portable computer and introduced a slew of new products that would lead revenues khổng lồ exceed $1 billion for the first time in company history.
1984
Intel took several steps khổng lồ shape the future of computing. Even as the company"s 286 processor introduced modern personal computing capability, the company created a new division dedicated lớn pursuing the nguồn of supercomputing. Lớn protect the benefits of its contributions, the company also championed new national legislation that would protect innovations in semiconductor design.
1985
As the entire semiconductor industry again faced hardship, hãng intel realigned its operations with an eye to lớn the future. The company made the difficult but smart decision to stop producing DRAMs, expanded its international manufacturing capabilities and launched successful products for both the personal computing and supercomputing markets.
1986
Intel faces the toughest economic year in its history as the semiconductor industry remains depressed. However, the company lays the groundwork for a more prosperous future, entering the market for ASICs, developing products with record-setting capabilities & refining its operations & strategies lớn best meet the demands of the nascent personal computing revolution.
1987
Intel surged back into the black as the semiconductor industry finally recovered from a multiyear recession, & that was only one of Intel"s causes for celebration. The 386 continued its dominance & provided the basis for several new products, the comapny made a splash at its first appearance at the Siggraph trade show và Andy Grove rose to lớn the office of CEO.
1988
Intel"s 20th year saw the company"s influence continue khổng lồ expand. The creation of the hãng sản xuất intel Foundation institutionalized Intel"s corporate giving with a permanent structure that would contribute billions lớn worthy causes throughout the world. The company"s position in the automotive market grew stronger with the introduction of new technologies và sales milestones for existing ones. And while new hàng hóa launches were nothing new to lớn Intel, in this year the company took the remarkable step of launching 16 at once in an sự kiện known as Big Bang Day.
1989
Intel closed out the 1980s with a record-breaking year fueled by the introduction of three new microprocessors: the 860, 486 & 960. The company updated its operations along with its product offerings, boosting 386 sales with a groundbreaking ad chiến dịch aimed at consumers instead of computer manufacturers và launching a massive corporate recycling program. Even as the company continued khổng lồ push the industry forward, its leaders were recognized for their past innovations.
1990s
The advent of the World Wide Web và user-friendly website browsers prompted a massive increase in consumer computing, bringing greater fame và fortune khổng lồ Intel. Hãng sản xuất intel secured its position as a leader in the new market through a combination of successful products và effective brand promotions, including the now famous “Intel Inside” chiến dịch and the hãng intel Bunny People. By the over of the decade, hãng sản xuất intel had not only experienced phenomenal growth and provided game-changing technologies — it had become a household name.
1990
Intel"s first year of the 1990s was characterized by resilience after the sudden passing of co-founder Robert Noyce. As the company mourned, it pressed on with new products, including its first Net
Port servers và the groundbreaking i750 processor for multimedia development. Meanwhile, Gordon Moore was awarded the National Medal of Technology & the company as a whole was celebrated in exhibits at some of the nation"s đứng đầu museums.
1991
For Intel, 1991 was super literally and figuratively. The company created cutting-edge parallel supercomputers, Touchstone Delta & Paragon. It launched its now-iconic advertising campaign, intel Inside, and aired its first television ads. All in all, it came as no surprise when at year"s over the company reported record-shattering financial results.
1992
Intel’s star continued khổng lồ rise as it was declared the biggest semiconductor manufacturer in the U.S., issued its first cash dividend to stockholders and increased its presence in retail outlets all in the same year. The release of special Over
Drive 486 processors able khổng lồ boost PC performance by up khổng lồ 70 percent, the launch of Indeo video clip software khổng lồ allow for digital truyền thông media conversion without dedicated hardware, và the company’s first 200mm cpu wafers all signal that Intel’s status as the go-to company for personal computing giải pháp công nghệ was likely to lớn continue.
1993
Intel made its 25th anniversary year one lớn remember. The company launched its employee volunteer program, hãng sản xuất intel Involved, which brought a new structure & permanence khổng lồ employees’ efforts lớn help their communities. The release of the Pentium processor ensured a strong future for x86 architecture even after the "86" naming convention was dropped. & the company unveiled PC Magazine"s product of the Year: the Peripheral Component Interconnect (PCI) bus.
1994
Intel"s 1994 was all about improving the lives of computer users. Pro
Share videoconferencing giải pháp công nghệ offered live đoạn phim chatting, LANDesk products let offices manage software functions for multiple machines at once via a computer network & the Universal Serial Bus (USB) made it easier for everyone to connect peripherals lớn their PC. The good news was interrupted by the discovery of a flaw in the Pentium processor, but ultimately the experience affirmed Intel"s commitment khổng lồ its customers.
1995
Intel"s public profile gained prominence as more and more people came khổng lồ understand the importance of computers. The company launched its first website to help customers learn more about Intel và its products. The company"s hottest new product, the Pentium Pro, was so powerful the U.S. Department of Energy selected it khổng lồ power a new supercomputer, giving Intel"s products more cachet. And to extend its brand recognition beyond visual cues, intel debuted an audio signature, the hãng sản xuất intel "bong," which became an iconic part of its radio and TV advertisements.
1996
Twenty-five years after hãng intel changed the world with the 4004 microprocessor, the company remained at the forefront of the digital revolution. The clip phone and Wired for Management initiative allowed PC users khổng lồ connect in ways that were unimaginable just a few years prior. Meanwhile, work with the U.S. Department of Energy & the Smithsonian gave the company chances to lớn flex its muscles as a force in both technology và culture. Unsurprisingly, these victories led the company to lớn another year of financial success và praise from industry insiders.
1997
Intel celebrated another year of innovative products accompanied by financial success & critical praise. The debut of the Pentium II ensured the company"s continuing status as the standard-bearer for the industry. The cpu would be sold with the help of the "Bunny People," the company"s new & immediately popular mascots. An increasing appreciation for the importance of computers & Intel"s role in creating them led Time magazine lớn name CEO Andy Grove "Man of the Year."
1998
Intel began adapting lớn an expanding market in which a wider variety of customers demanded a wider variety of products. The company introduced the Celeron processor to lớn appeal to lớn consumers in the "value PC" market who wanted a chip that offered modest performance in exchange for a lower price, và the Xeon brand lớn appeal lớn high-performance enterprising customers. As these changes were underway, Craig Barrett succeeded Andy Grove as CEO and began pursuing a vision that extended far beyond PCs.
1999
Thanks in large part to lớn the continuing expansion of internet-related computing, hãng sản xuất intel finished the 1990s strong. Several new products and services brought the company deeper into supporting e-commerce even as the company introduced consumers to Pentium III, its first microprocessor specifically designed with the internet in mind. To lớn keep the company"s philanthropic efforts as up-to-date as its products, the company launched Innovation in Education, a program khổng lồ help teachers integrate giải pháp công nghệ into their lesson plans.
2000s
In a decade bookended by big market declines in 2001 và 2008, hãng intel continued to lớn invest in Research & Development & new production processes và sites. The company’s efforts allowed it to lớn navigate the tumultuous times far better than its peers even as it helped khổng lồ popularize game-changing technologies lượt thích wireless computing & multicore processors.
2000
Intel entered the new millennium with its characteristic energy. The company continued khổng lồ advance its personal computing offerings, this time with the Pentium 4, while continuing lớn diversify with new products for the wireless and e-commerce markets. With ongoing success in sales, the company launched a significant expansion of its global fabrication capabilities và upped its philanthropic work through two major initiatives: Teach to lớn the Future và the Computer Clubhouse Network.
2001
The bursting of the dot-com bubble presented intel with a rocky financial year, but fortunately CEO Craig Barrett had kept the company in a strong enough position to continue R&D while it rode out the tough times. Among the company"s achievements in 2001: the world"s smallest transistor (20nm) và a high-density processor designed in collaboration with Hewlett-Packard. With all signs pointing lớn long-term success and stability, intel co-founder Gordon Moore retired from the board of directors.
2002
As the entire tech industry navigated the ongoing fallout from the dot-com collapse, hãng sản xuất intel continued to lớn make savvy decisions that would leave it well-positioned khổng lồ seize the momentum during the eventual upturn. The company launched upgrades to Pentium 4 and Itanium and opened a new fabrication facility in New Mexico lớn keep up with anticipated demand for its products. While intel pursued these measures for the future, retired founder Gordon Moore received the Presidential Medal of Freedom for his accomplishments in business, science & philanthropy.
2003
In its 35th year, hãng sản xuất intel surged out of the recession that had been gripping the tech industry và debuted technologies that would have been unimaginable in 1968. With both the Internet and PCs fully integrated into many people"s daily lives, the company focused on enhancing thiết bị di động computing with the release of intel Centrino sản phẩm điện thoại techology và a thiết bị di động Pentium 4 processor designed to optimize computing on the go. Hãng sản xuất intel also invested heavily in building up Wi-Fi hotspots throughout the country to lớn create an ecosphere that would bolster sản phẩm điện thoại technologies" adoption.
2004
As Intel"s finances continued to recover from the recession caused by the dot-com bust, the company carried on with refining its operations. It began 300mm wafer manufacturing outside of the United States, eliminated most of the lead used in its chip manufacturing và introduced flash memory with 90nm process technology, all of which prepared the company lớn meet the demands of the future.
2005
Intel technologies và corporate operations continued khổng lồ evolve. The company released its first multicore processor, dramatically advancing the computing power nguồn available in a single package. A new leader arrived in the size of Paul Otellini, who succeeded Craig Barrett as CEO, while a former leader, Gordon Moore, is recognized with his wife, Betty, as the vị trí cao nhất philanthropists in the country. The company itself continued lớn be a noted philanthropist as well, responding with particular force to lớn disaster relief efforts amid an especially tumultuous year.
2006
Intel underwent several changes that would shape the company"s modern operations. Crucial product launches secured its leadership in multicore processors, which were quickly becoming the industry standard. A new logo — the company"s biggest branding change since 1969 — signified the company"s commitment khổng lồ pushing the envelope of what was possible from technology. Finally, the company announced the construction of its biggest production facility to date, in Vietnam.
2007
Intel pursued a year of big swings. The company introduced chips made with a new process that Gordon Moore called “the biggest change in transistor technology since ... The late 1960s" & invested billions khổng lồ implement that process at new or upgraded facilities. Meanwhile, the company"s advances in photonic công nghệ made it easier & cheaper to lớn transmit data on beams of light, while new standards for a commercial Ethernet would make large vps networks easier to use & maintain.
2008
A massive global recession dampened Intel"s 40th anniversary celebrations, but the company was still able lớn turn a profit while dropping major updates to multiple sản phẩm lines. The vi xử lý core i7 debuted as the world"s fastest processor for desktops, the Atom processor expanded wireless capabilities for mobile devices, the latest NAND flash memory device was both smaller & more powerful than the previous version và Intel"s first halogen-free Xeon processors helped reduce the company"s environmental footprint.
2009
Even as the Great Recession continued lớn disrupt the global economy, hãng intel kept pushing the envelope of technological possibility. The Xeon 5500 family offered record-shattering performance to enterprise customers, an experimental Single-Chip Cloud Computer put an entire data center on a single chip, và the hãng intel Reader showed how Intel công nghệ could change lives. With the company on stable ground and primed khổng lồ pursue the future of connected devices, Craig Barrett stepped down as chairman, lớn be succeeded by Jane Shaw.
2010s
Intel became a key player in the proliferation of “smart” devices that maintained wireless connections to lớn cloud servers khổng lồ perform tasks standalone devices can"t. The company’s technology powered the countless end-user devices found in households throughout the world, from kitchen appliances to unmanned aerial vehicles (drones), as well as the high-intensity servers that processed the data those devices generate và the networks that kept the connected devices connected. At the same time, the company launched pioneering initiatives lớn foster diversity và ensure conflict-free materials sourcing, showing that Intel"s corporate responsiblity initiatives, like its products, were always on the cutting edge.
2010
Intel started off the 2010s with record revenues powered by the continuing demand for ever-more portable computers. The company met that demand with its second generation core processors, which became available for laptops & ultra-low voltage, ultra-thin portables thanks to lớn the company"s groundbreaking 32nm processor technology. The company"s memory offerings shrank as well as intel pioneered 25nm NAND flash memory & the SSD 310 shrank the footprint of Intel"s solid state drives by 7/8.
2011
Intel continued its leadership position in personal computing even as mobile devices and tablets took over the market. The company formed a new điện thoại Communications Group, introduced the first generation of Thunderbolt technology và potentially saved the PC with the Ultrabook. At the same time, the company was creating a more inclusive workplace and continuing khổng lồ break financial records.
2012
Intel continued lớn drive a world of rapidly changing technologies on multiple fronts. The Xeon Phi chip introduced Many Integrated vi xử lý core architecture, which integrated supercomputing principles into a microchip. The company optimized its rollout of new products & innovations by working with bloggers and social media, while the She Will Innovate initiative applied the wisdom of crowds to lớn bridging the gender gap in technology. Finally, after a strong financial year, the company continued to take a long view of R&D, investing in the technologies of the future rather than the present.
2013
Intel both expanded the applications for its technology & worked khổng lồ let more people take advantage of those applications. The company"s new Haswell architecture chip core processors optimized performance for 2-in-1s, tablets and portable all-in-ones, opening up the processors" full potential lớn an entire range of devices. Meanwhile, the company worked khổng lồ put more people in touch with that potential through sponsorships & philathropic programs, & new CEO Brian Krzanich outlined the pillars that would nguồn future innovations.
2014
Much of Intel"s activities in 2014 focused on reconceptualizing the role of giải pháp công nghệ in modern life. The chip core M processor showed the company continuing to lớn change what was possible in a transistor. A new business group was formed to lớn help speed the development of a world where countless devices could be connected by an "Internet of Things." The company"s completion of a conflict-free supply chain for its raw materials showed everyone a new, more ethically responsible path forward for tech production. And finally, a series of commercials conveyed how the company"s breakthroughs could help solve some of the world"s toughest problems.
2015
As Moore"s Law turned 50, hãng intel continued to expand technology"s reach. The company introduced a fleet of drones that showcased the company"s technical prowess with thrilling aerial light shows, moved into field-programmable components with the acquisition of Altera Corp. & continued lớn develop the technologies that would manage a world increasingly driven by electronic data. The company pursued social advances as well, launching a multiyear, $300 million commitment khổng lồ improve diversity in the tech industry.
2016
Intel showed how its giải pháp công nghệ could change the face of transportation: the company"s first commercially available drone, the Falcon 8+, offered easy remote access to lớn areas humans would have trouble reaching. Its new fleet of performing drones showed the potential for 500 aerial vehicles khổng lồ move in flawless synchronization. Và last but not least, the company dramatically stepped up its pursuit of autonomous driving technologies. Intel made it clear it was not abandoning the PC, however, with an ad chiến dịch focused on the company"s high-performance gaming chips.
2017
Intel"s 2017 was marked by exciting developments in automotive technology, including a merger with Mobileye that greatly advanced the company"s position in autonomous driving & a partnership with Warner Bros. Khổng lồ turn oto rides into adventures. The company matched these advances with stepped-up commitments to diversity, bringing the "She Will Connect" program lớn America và making a major pledge to tư vấn STEM education at HBCUs. Hãng sản xuất intel kept up its tradition of hip promotions as well, partnering with a rock star và a star athlete on a special project.
2018
Fifty years after intel was established, the company reached once-unimaginable highs. The company achieved over $70 billion in revenue for the first time as its data-centric businesses grew by 18% thanks to lớn its high-profile partnership with the NFL và Intel Mobileye bringing self-driving cars closer to lớn market than ever before. As intel continued to improve its offerings, it also improved internally by achieving full representation of women và minorities in its workforce a full two years earlier than targeted.
2019
Intel finished the decade in great shape, building on its past successes even as it broke new ground. Bob Swan became permanent CEO, upholding the company tradition of promoting its chief executive from within. The launch of Project Athena expanded on Intel"s history of platform development with a program that would prepare laptops for 5G và artificial intelligence. Project Aurora built on the company’s history of public-private supercomputing partnerships with a collaborative effort to lớn produce a computer capable of exa
FLOP performance. These milestones showed that, as giải pháp công nghệ grew ever more prolific & complex, hãng sản xuất intel would grow with it và drive its progress.
2020s
Intel entered the 2020s ready to lớn continue creating world-changing technologies that would improve the life of every person on the planet. Throughout its history, hãng sản xuất intel had been at the forefront of creating the data-centric world, and the company itself had evolved along with that world. In its sixth decade, intel focused on technologies that were unimaginable when it was founded, such as artificial intelligence, 5G wireless networking và intelligent edge computing. Yet even as the company’s fields of development changed in awe-inspiring ways, intel remained committed lớn making the world safer, healthier, more inclusive and more sustainable, even as the COVID-19 pandemic presented unprecedented challenges.
2020
As the coronavirus pandemic disrupted virtually every aspect of life, intel adapted rapidly lớn maintain its commitment lớn its workers, its customers & its own principles. The company introduced new technologies — including the 11th generation Intel core processor — & emphasized ways its existing products could help the millions of people suddenly working và learning from home. The company maintained its sense of corporate responsibility as well, combining immediate efforts to help people affected by the pandemic with long-term efforts lớn adopt a revolutionarily sustainable business model.
Meet the i486
Intel released the i486 (also known as the 486 or 80486), the first x86 processor with more than 1-million transistors. The 486 would continue to be Intel"s primary x86 processor until the introduction of Pentium in 1993. The company continued to lớn manufacture the i486 for use in embedded systems until 2007.
Meet the i486
A PC powered by the 486 offered 50 times the performance of the original IBM PC powered by an intel 8088.
Pat Gelsinger, who became Intel"s CEO in 2021, on his role with the 486 project:"The 86 was my baby, from the beginning, khổng lồ finishing it, bringing it into production. I remember the feeling I had when I saw the first 486 ads hit, và the first 486 ads from our customers."
We need lớn start at the beginning, because understanding the timeline of the 486 - Intel"s 4th generation x86 CPU - is key khổng lồ understanding the story of the DX/50. (I also can"t not start at the beginning, so "I"m sorry" or "you"re welcome!" depending on how you feel about that.) This entire article is actually a complete accident. It was supposed lớn be the preface khổng lồ the article I wanted to write, which was everything I found out from benchmarking and comparing a DX/50 against its closest competitors. I have, at least, made this a separate article, so you if you just want khổng lồ look at the findings of my tests, you can go to lớn the other one (once its completed I"ll địa chỉ the link). I"m not going lớn get massively technical here - look at the datasheet for that - but I will try to lớn get as much information as possible in one place while clarifying dates & clearing up misconceptions, because there are a few.
intel initially finalised the specifications of theirnext gene 486 in June 19871, with a somewhat vague arrival date of 1990. Speculation about the cpu continued for the next couple of years until Chicago"s Comdex Spring in April of 1989, when intel finally revealed the first samples of their new CPU, priced at $950 in quantities of 1,0002. Actual systems including the 486 weren"t expected until q.4 that year when production would begin in full, though IBM showed a prototype system at the end of April. The 486 was actually a pretty big leap ahead of its predecessor, despite few new instructions being added, thanks to lớn some architectural enhancements. Through the use of a more precise 1 micron manufacturing process, hãng intel were able khổng lồ integrate a co-processor into the die (most 386 systems did not ship with a co-processor2). It also used the RISC-inspired technique of pipelining, which allows a new instruction lớn be worked on before the previous one has completed - this was a step closer lớn the superscalar design of the future Pentium. The other significant enhancement was internal cache memory. Cache was introduced with the 386 & was external SRAM at this time. While it provided improved RAM access times, there was still some latency. By integrating 8K of cache onto the die of the CPU itself, access khổng lồ the data và instructions stored there was instantaneous. This internal cache was also called "level 1", while the external SRAM was called "level 2". Some early or cheap 486 systems didn"t include this.
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| (Source: Infoworld, 8th May 1989, p38) |
The first 486 system to be announced was Apricot"s VX FT server, as early as June, with the initial 25MHz model3. It"s hard lớn imagine an DX/25 being at the heart of a high-end server today, but remember that this was the fastest x86 CPU in the world at the time. It wasn"t all plain-sailing, however: the first teething troubles appeared as early as October that year, when it became apparent there were bugs in the FPU of the B4-stepping of the chip4. This delayed systems for at least a month, but this coincided nicely with Comdex Fall so everyone got to lớn show their systems off anyway.
Volume shipping of the fixed 486 began in early December 19895and the first 33MHz systems began appearing in February "90, the month that a second bug was discovered in systems with the new EISA bus6. April then saw the release of the co-pro-less 20MHz 486SX & complementary 487 co-processor tăng cấp (technically a DX with a different pinout - intel never made a discrete co-pro for the 486) và the first mention of their 50MHz model, said lớn be capable of 40 million instructions per second (MIPS)7. Considering that the DX/20 was capable of đôi mươi MIPS, it"s pretty impressive that hãng intel were planning to deliver double the nguồn within a couple of years. By pricing the SX mã sản phẩm at less than half the cost of the existing DX models, hãng intel was aggressive in its efforts to establish the 486 as the mainstream desktop CPU. This was somewhat ambitious, as most users around this were contemplating upgrading their 286 to lớn a 386, & AMD were selling the best-value chips on that platform. For context, 386-based systems accounted for half of all PC unit sales in 1992, but by 1993 the 486 took over with 66% of sales so Intel"s strategy ultimately worked8. What helped was that they had no competition at that time. Aside from a very specific agreement with Cyrix, intel was, for the first time, not legally obliged lớn license its 486 designs to lớn anyone else, as had been the case with the 8088, 80286 and 80386. This did land them with a number of antitrust lawsuits, however, which usually only arose when they tried lớn sue a competitor.
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| (Source: Computerworld) |
Hilariously, the first 50MHz 486 showed up in October 1990, a full 8 months months before hãng intel even announced their official model9. In fact at least two cheeky companies - Velox và Cambion - sold peltier-based products that upped the voltage và cooled a DX/33 effectively enough that it could be overclocked khổng lồ 50MHz10. I think this is one of the earliest extreme overclocking products I"ve ever heard of. There was talk that hãng sản xuất intel might sue them considering that their sản phẩm would be in direct competition with the real deal, but I don"t think there was a huge amount of buyer confidence in running chips outside their spec. Certainly makes me wonder if the performance would match a genuine chip.
hãng intel officially announced their 50MHz mã sản phẩm at PC Expo in June 1991 (on the same day AMD announced their 25MHz 386SX clone!), and it was received with enthusiasm by some system builders and caution by others11. With the q.4 arrival date some way off on the horizon, a few OEMs preferred to lớn focus on selling the existing DX/33, while others had plans for multi-CPU systems. Intel also announced a custom cache module lớn optimise their newest CPU and help reduce "design issues", though it"s unclear how many manufacturers actually adopted it - cost was cited as a significant issue - và some manufacturers chose to design their own cache solution instead. It was clear from the off that this CPU was going to lớn be used predominantly, if not exclusively, in servers và mainframe-class systems and there were two big reasons for this:
Some desktop suppliers of the latest cpu actually considered it lớn be "too powerful", which definitely contributed lớn the general view that the DX/50 would be limited to lớn only the most high-end business applications14. The speed bump wasn"t the only improvement made in the 50MHz model. It also received a JTAG chạy thử access port (TAP) and although a reason for this isn"t documented, it"s likely it was so that manufacturers could test bus stability of their systems with the new CPU.
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| (Source: Infoworld) |
Clock-Doubling on the Horizon
The DX/50"s release was overshadowed somewhat by plans for a 66MHz model due to lớn arrive in autumn the following year (plus talk of the next-gen P513). This is actually the first time "clock-doubling" is publicly mentioned by Intel, though it wasn"t called that at the time - this new method of having an internal clock that was double the speed of the external clock was initially named the "double clutch", "dual clock" or "clock doubler" depending on which magazine you were reading.
NCR, among others, had big plans for Intel"s new CPU. Their 3600 system was designed with massively parallel processing in mind, to giảm giá with "large transaction processing operations" for big retail clients like K Mart. This computer used thirty two 486DX/33 CPUs along with the same number of multi-CPU cards, each with two to eight of the new 50MHz chips for up to lớn 288 processors in total15. This was due for release in December "91 & was a scalable design, costing between $850,000 & $8,000,000. Obviously this wasn"t going lớn be running Windows - a new flavour of UNIX was lớn be developed specifically for this system. NCR are the people that invented Wi
Fi alongside AT&T, & were one of the earliest successful adopters of SCSI, amongst other industry-shaping innovations. If you only looked at the stories from publications focusing on desktop computing, you would think the DX/50 was a flop, but that was far from the truth. Unfortunately I"ve been unable khổng lồ obtain historical sales figures for each 486 chip so I can"t back this up with data - there is plenty of anecdotal evidence such as review and adverts.
In August "91, not long after volume production began, hãng intel had khổng lồ cease production of the DX/50 because initial shipments were getting too hot & shutting systems down. This was attributed to lớn Intel"s existing suite of tests being inadequate when testing the 50MHz CPU16. It"s pretty well known today that the DX/50 was the first 486 that really required a heatsink, not that intel was telling anyone that - quite the opposite, in fact (can"t find the reference right now). It"s quite plausible that system builders simply weren"t installing sufficient cooling, or indeed any. Either way, Intel and Dell, the only suppliers selling systems equipped with the chip at that time, said they would not be recalling systems and hadn"t experienced complaints from their customers17.
I"ve seenmultiple peoplesaying that the first stepping of the DX/50 was manufactured using a 1.0 micron process & then moved to 0.8 micron because of overheating problems, but I"ve found no evidence whatsoever to support this. There is even a discussion over at CPU World about an engineering sample of the chip that was apparently the earliest example of a die-shrunk DX/50 but, again, no sources are given. Every available press article I"ve read, however, talks about the 0.8 micron process being a necessary factor in the tốc độ increase, just like the additional metal layer it facilitates to lớn reduce the vertical form size of the die18. Changing the layer construction is a significant effort và isn"t the kind of thing you casually vị between steppings, as far as I know. Even the 486DX datasheet doesn"t elaborate, only stating that the CHMOS IV và V processes were used in the making of the 25, 33 & 50MHz chips, but not which ones applied. It"s possible that a 1.0 micron initial run of chips only made it into the hands of OEMs but if this did happen then it"s likely that they were all recalled & destroyed. Intel themselves stated that there was"virtually no chance" that anyone would encounter one of these chips as a result19. These early samples also lacked the enamelled hãng intel logo. I would love to lớn come across one of these, because one way lớn prove it definitively would be to compare an early chip with a later one và looking at the gold cap on the bottom of the CPU - a chip made with the 1.0 micron process will need a larger cap than one made using 0.8 micron. I have not yet found anyone who has made such a comparison so, for now, it"s completely unproven that the DX/50"s manufacturing process changed between steppings.
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| Left: a 1.0 micron DX/33. Right: a 0.8 micron DX/50. |
Weirdly, one publication mentioned hãng intel demonstrating a 100MHz chip18. I know what you"re thinking - they must mean a clock-doubled model, except they go on to talk about DX2s separately in the next paragraph, so they"re either confused or hãng intel really did plan to go for a 100MHz front side bus. Such a thing seems absurd on so many levels, however. The same article suggested that a DX2/40 would be part of the future line-up và another mag speculated over the possibility of a DX2/10019.
At least one supplier in Feb "92 said that intel had effectively "hit the wall" with the DX/5020, just as mainstream systems had begun shipping. Vendors had also begun turning their attention to the Over
Drive range of CPUs - due to be announced in March "92 - which would be a "drop in" tăng cấp allowing users lớn increase the tốc độ of their existing systems without having khổng lồ change any of the other components. As an aside, system vendors did not lượt thích Intel selling CPUs directly to lớn consumers if it meant those users were delaying the purchase of a new PC for a couple more years. Intel"s CPUs were not retail parts & were usually only sold through OEMs as part of systems. The Over
Drive range effectively marked Intel"s entry into the retail sector and that may explain why there were so expensive - $699 for the DX2/50 when it was released & $549 for the 33 và 40MHz models. It was a strategy lớn deter most users from upgrading, while placating those that wanted to pay for more speed without spending thousands on a new PC. As such there aren"t many around these days, relatively.
Just as the DX/50 was hitting its stride, the DX2 line was officially announced in March "92. Sold initially as an OEM part running at 50MHz internally21 (25MHz externally), the consumer Over
Drive part was due lớn follow at a later date. System manufacturers loved it because they could ship existing systems unmodified with the new cpu installed for a claimed 70% performance improvement & no FCC pain-in-the-ass22.
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| (Source: PC Mag, 15th Sep "92, p154) |
to see how the DX/50s productions issues affected system vendors, we had to lớn wait until June "92 for PC Magazine"s group thử nghiệm of 19 of the first DX/50 machines. This featured systems that were shipping khổng lồ customers by January that year, 7 months after the chip"s initial announcement and 3 months after the "good" DX/50 became available. The findings were positive: systems were 30% higher than the previous fastest 486, the DX/33, with a typical spec of 8MB RAM, a 300MB hard disk, SVGA graphics, plus DOS 5.0 và Windows 3.0. The DX/50"s place as a server-grade CPU was confirmed - though it was claimed that the new DX2/50"s raw performance was "virtually identical"23, its lack of I/O performance meant it was intended for the masses, & not seen as a threat to lớn the DX. The linked article also provides a really good explanation of the technical challenges vendors faced in creating 50MHz systems, on page 116, and a look a the production process.
"Intel"s step up from the 33MHz 486DX cpu to a 50-MHz version required additional technical refinements. Both chips contain essentially the same processor logic, with a math coprocessor, an 8K memory cache, & 1.2 million transistors. In order khổng lồ coax faster performance from the 486, the 50-MHz part uses a submicron (0.8 of a micron), three-layer cpu design (versus the 33-MHz"s 1 micron, 2-layer approach)." (p116)
PC Magazine"s group thử nghiệm in September 1992, however, pitted the DX and DX2s against each other to lớn provide a direct performance comparison24.
"Just how important is an external, secondary processor cache? So important that PC Magazine Labs found DX2s with a well-designed 128K (or larger) cache run at 96 percent the processor performance level of a 50-MHz 486DX ...
"The average memory performance for all the DX2s was 6,314 kilobytes per second (compared with 8,017 KBps for the DX/50s)--78 percent of the performance of true 50-MHz systems ... Under most applications, PCs utilising the clock-doubler giải pháp công nghệ should perform nearly on the same cấp độ as a true 50-MHz 486 when the DX2 chip is used with an appropriately designed external cache." (p127)
(It literally did - the DX2 ran a lot hotter than the DX). It seems that the writing was on the wall. Already it was obvious that the imminent 66MHz DX2 was likely lớn pose a threat once it arrived. Systems built around the DX2/66 began to show up in November, but it wasn"t as clear cut as you would think. Infoworld"s group kiểm tra of 17 PCs shows why25. Firstly, hãng sản xuất intel Priced the DX2/66 $100 higher than the DX/50, so it wasn"t a no-brainer. Secondly, they acknowledged a 9% performance increase over 50MHz systems but said:
"
Personally I think that"s a bit of a bonkers thing for a tech rag to say, especially when they haven"t actually provided any numbers lớn back it up. Tricky timing issues? May be slower? What they"re probably referring to lớn is wait states undermining the internal speed of the DX2, but it"s almost as if hãng intel asked them to create a veil of uncertainty around this new "too good khổng lồ be true" CPU. Except no, because hãng intel themselves were publicly discounting the DX/50 back in August.26
"
Infoworld và others noticed that systems with at least 128K of cache would perform better than those with 64K or none. While it may be inconceivable 30 years later that OEMs were selling 486 systems with little or no level 2 cache, cost - or, rather, value - was a huge giảm giá and if consumers didn"t really understand or appreciate the relevance of cache, then they wouldn"t consider it a worthy investment.
The biggest reason Infoworld could give for choosing a DX2/66 over a DX/50 was the price: the average 50MHz system was around $2,000 more. This is unsurprising as such systems were usually servers & would therefore be better-equipped, with features lượt thích more cache, SCSI, greater storage and caching drive controllers. They also cite local bus performance as a factor because the VESA local bus was brand new at the time và didn"t tư vấn 50MHz operation yet, along with all the other proprietary local buses. The bottom line here is that there was very little emphasis on comparing the actual performance of Intel"s top-end chips at this point, almost lượt thích they were apples và oranges.
Moving forward lớn January 1993, PC Magazine conducted a massive chạy thử of 74 systems that showed the DX2/66 in its stride. Local bus graphics was still in its infancy, but system vendors had learned quickly how to lớn get the most out of the new CPU27. You would think that everyone was ready to lớn dethrone the DX/50 by this point, but apparently not.
"
They"ve basically discounted a measurable performance improvement as... Perceived? Insignificant? At this point I"m confused - surely most people would say that a 20% improvement had some merit? They seem to double down in their article on local bus video clip in the same issue, saying that "a local-bus 486DX/50 should outperform a local-bus 486DX2/66 because the clock-doubled DX2/66"s local bus stops as 33MHz." Again, no numbers to back this up; lots of "should" & "may" being thrown around. Yet ask anyone today which system will perform better và the DX/50 will quickly be discounted for multiple reasons, despite very few people properly testing their systems from what I"ve seen (yes that"s a dig). What about GUI performance? Hard drive transfers? There are many factors that can be compared.
In the meantime, on March 22 of "93, intel unveiled their Pentium CPU & really put the cat amongst the pigeons28. Competitors, such as IBM và Cyrix, had only just started to lớn released their own 486 clones (under license from Intel) and suddenly (well, not suddenly - the P5 had been talked about since June "91, remember?) intel had released their next-gen chip. At $900 in volume purchases, it was never going lớn threaten the healthy 486 market, but it did make the DX/50 Intel"s 3rd-fastest chip behind the DX2/66.
PC Magazine did a group demo of servers in May 1993, relatively late in the life of the DX/50, and found that "systems with 486DX/50 processors should have a performance advantage over 486DX2/66 systems in reading data from disk cache memory29." These magazines really overuse the term "should". Anyway, of 9 servers tested, 3 were equipped with the DX/50, and the "editor"s choice", the Zenith Z-Server 450DE, was one of them, scoring 10 to 15 percent faster on the I/O throughput tests than its competitors. Not bad, all things considered.
In July 1993, the DX/50 reached its second birthday. PC Magazine ran an article on The Perfect PC and, to show how things had moved on in the last year, an entry-level system was considered khổng lồ have a 486SX rather than a 38630. They also labelled the DX2/66 as "the value choice for nguồn users".
"In the hierarchy of computing, comparing a 50-MHz DX to a 66-MHz DX2 is problematic. The DX2 is better at processor-intensive tasks (calculation- and graphic-intensive programs); the plain DX is faster at memory intensive applications. Because 50-Mhz motherboards are difficult lớn design & manufacture, many PC makers have focused their attention on the 486DX2/66 and orphaned the 486DX/50." (Page 127)
It was true - Red Hill technology shared their own experience of the DX/50: they only sold one but had to lớn underclock it at 40MHz just to get it khổng lồ run without issues31. Systems featuring the DX/50 were still being produced in December of 1993, according to PC Magazine"s 486 buyers guide32, though out of 89 lines being produced by the various manufacturers, only 4 offered a DX/50 option, while 83 featured the DX2/66. Taking a look at the distribution of scores, the DX/50 put in a strong showing.
Although it"s no surprise that the sole Pentium system in the group murdered the competition, what"s interesting is that, while the highest-performing DX2/66 scores about 47, the slowest only manages 27, producing an average of 39. The DX/50, meanwhile, is sitting happily at about 36 and therefore outperforming a fair number of 66MHz machines, & all of the DX2/50s. This just goes to show how important system thiết kế is in getting the most out of a CPU. Either way, it was clear that the DX/50 was on the outs, and the release of the clock-tripled DX4 only cemented it. Although not completely. A DX2/100 was actually rumoured around the time the DX4 (then called the DX3) was announced in July "93, which obviously would have had a 50MHz front side bus, & would have been intended to drop into systems that had been designed for the DX/5033. Sadly nothing more was heard about this CPU, though the DX4 went on to successfully fill the gap between the DX2/66 và the Pentium.
So that"s the full story. I think it"s kind of sad that CPUs don"t get a "final day" when their manufacturer stops production, celebrates their achievements và sends them out to lớn pasture. I think the DX/50 deserved such a send-off, but we will probably never know when the last one was produced.
As a celebration of its life, I want to lớn discover, once và for all, where it outperformed its clock-doubled rival, where it didn"t fare so well, & what the final score is. It will be a bit lượt thích what I did with the Tualatin vs Pentium 4 tests, except I"ll be doing them myself rather than scraping them from other sources34. It"s worth noting, in the context of modern-day, retro benchmarking, that there were multiple versions of the DX2/66. The main model, the P24, originally had the "write through" scheme on its internal cache, just lượt thích the DX. Late in 1994, however, the P24D was released, which used the faster "write back" scheme. It"s important, when benchmarking, lớn ensure you are comparing like-for-like. The P24D DX2/66 is going to wipe the floor with the DX/50 every time because it was not its contemporary - it was released over 3 years later35.
According khổng lồ CPU World, there were 10 steppings of the 486DX/50: Q0209, Q302 & SXE69 are engineering samples & SX408, SX409, SX518, SX546, SX547, SX705, SX710 went into full production. These are displayed alphabetically, so it"s often hard (or impossible) khổng lồ work out where engineering samples fit in with the other versions chronologically. I have an SX518 and SX710 and both seem to behave very similarly.
I have found at least twoexamples of people overclocking a DX/50 to lớn 60 or 66MHz respectively with varying success và little detail. It makes sense for this khổng lồ be possible given that the DX/50 was the first of the 0.8 micron CPUs, which should have theoretically given it some headroom - later CPUs on a particular manufacturing process historically have more trouble with higher frequencies (looks at the 1.13GHz Coppermine). It was an uncommon practice to overclock such a chip, though.
As ever, if you have enjoyed reading this, please consider buying me a coffeevia Ko-Fi. I try my best khổng lồ make sure that everything I write is historically accurate by citing primary sources and weaving together some kind of story from everything, but if you vị think I"ve got something wrong, please phản hồi below with a source và I"ll be really happy to make corrections. I really enjoy writing about this stuff and it can be really time consuming! Also, I promise khổng lồ give 20% of every donation to the internet Archive, without which this article (and others I"ve written) wouldn"t be possible. Thanks for reading :)
