What is the history of computer processors?

The first computer was created in 1946 at the University of Pennsylvania. The computer's CPU was an ENIAC (Electronic Numerical Integrator and Computer). The teams led by Alan Turing and John von Neumann invented the programming function, which is now widely utilized. The von Neumann model is the backbone of contemporary computers.

Microprocessor technology has advanced significantly since Intel's 4004, the first microprocessor, was created. Here, we explore the prior events related to computer processors. Since there are too many to mention, not all computer processors are included.

Year of Event	Event
1823	Silicon (Si), the fundamental building block of modern CPUs, was discovered by Baron Jons Jackob Berzelius.
1903	Electric logic circuits known as "switches" or "gates" were first patented by Nikola Tesla in 1903.
1947	On December 23, 1947, at the Bell Laboratories, William Shockley, Walter Brattain, and John Bardeen created the first transistor.
1948	The first transistor was patented in 1948 by William Shockley, Walter Brattain, and John Bardeen.
1956	As a result of their work on the transistor, William Shockley, Walter Brattain, and John Bardeen received the physics Nobel Prize.
1958	Jack Kilby and Robert Noyce created the first functional integrated circuit. On September 12, 1958, the first IC was shown. (Geoffrey Dummer is acknowledged as being the first to design and create an electronic circuit working model.)
1960	In 1960, IBM created the first automated widespread production plant for transistors in New York.
1965	Gordon Moore made a discovery concerning integrated circuits on April 19, 1965, which is now recognized as Moore's Law.
1968	Gordon Moore and Robert Noyce established the Intel Company in 1968.
1969	On May 1st, 1969, Advanced Micro Devices was established.
1971	On November 15, 1971, Intel unveiled the Intel 4004, the first microprocessor in history, with the assistance of Ted Hoff. The 4004 was a $200 chip with 2,300 transistors, 60,000 OPS (operations per second), and 640 bytes of addressable memory.
1972	On April 1, 1972, Intel unveiled the 8008 chip.
1974	In 1974, Motorola unveiled the MC6800, an 8-bit processor with a 1-2 MHz clock frequency, as the company's first processor.
1974	On April 1, 1974, Intel released the 8080, an upgraded microprocessor chip that quickly became the norm in the pc market.
1975	As a quicker and more affordable alternative to the Intel 8080, MOS Technology released the 6502 processor in 1975. Computers like the Apple II and Commodore 64, as well as console video games like the Atari 2600, made use of the 6502.
1975	In 1975, Panafacom introduced the MN1610 CPU. According to Fujitsu, the first single-chip 16-bit microprocessor was the MN1610.
1976	In March 1976, Intel unveiled the 8085 CPU.
1976	In July 1976, Zilog unveiled its initial microprocessor, the Z80. The Z80, an 8-bit processor, was initially created for embedded devices but is nevertheless found in numerous computers today.
1978	On June 8th, 1978, Intel released the 8086.
1979	On June 1st, 1979, Intel introduced the 8088.
1979	A 16/32-bit processor called the Motorola 68000 was introduced in 1979 and later incorporated into the Macintosh Computer and Amiga systems.
1982	The first 32-bit general-purpose processor, the 32016, was made available by National Semiconductor in 1982.
1982	On February 1st, 1982, Intel released the 80286.
1985	On April 26, 1985, Acorn Computers finished creating the ARM1 (Acorn RISC Machine 1), the first ARM processor design.
1985	In October 1985, Intel unveiled the first 80386.
1987	Sun was the first company to introduce the SPARC CPU.
1988	In 1988, the Intel 80386SX was released.
1989	In 1989, Cyrix introduced its first coprocessors, the FasMath 83D87 and 83S87. These were created for 386 machines and were x87 supported. The FasMath coprocessors outperformed the Intel 80387 processors by up to 50%.
1991	In March 1991, AMD unveiled the AM386 processor series. The Intel 486SX microprocessor, which retails for $258, was announced by Intel in April to assist the PC industry to adopt a less expensive CPU.
1992	On March 2, 1992, Intel announced the 486DX2 processor, which has the capacity to double the clock rate to produce faster-operating speeds.
1993	The PowerPC 601 was the first microprocessor to utilize the 32-bit PowerPC set of instructions. It was created by the AIM coalition, a collaboration between Motorola, Apple, and IBM. On March 22, 1993, Intel made the Pentium CPU available. The 3.1 million transistor CPU has a clock speed of 60 MHz and costs $878.00. David Lin launched Rise Technology in 1993.
1994	On March 7, 1994, Intel unveiled the second version of their Pentium CPUs.
1995	In 1995, Cyrix introduced the Cx5x86 CPU to take against Intel Pentium processors. In November 1995, Intel unveiled the Pentium Pro.
1996	In 1996, Cyrix unveiled the MediaGX processor. On a single chip, it coupled a CPU with video and audio functions. On January 4, 1996, Intel announced that the Pentium 150 MHz with a 60 MHz bus and the Pentium 166 MHz with a 66 MHz bus were both available. On March 27, 1996, AMD unveiled the K5 CPU, which had clock speeds ranging from 75 MHz to 133 MHz and bus frequencies of 50 MHz, 60 MHz, or 66 MHz. The K5 was AMD's first entirely inbuilt CPU.
1997	In April 1997, AMD unveiled their K6 CPU family, which included 66 MHz bus rates and speeds ranging from 166 MHz to 300 MHz. On May 7, 1997, Intel released the Pentium II.
1998	On May 28, 1998, AMD unveiled their new K6-2 processor family, which had clock speeds ranging from 266 MHz to 550 MHz and bus rates ranging from 66 MHz to 100 MHz. The K6-2 CPU was an improved K6 processor from AMD. The Pentium II Xeon 400 (512 K or 1 M cache, 400 MHz, 100 MHz FSB) was the first Xeon processor that Intel released, and it was available in June 1998.
1999	On January 4, 1999, Intel introduced the 366 MHz and 400 MHz Celeron CPUs. On February 22, 1999, AMD announced their K6-III processors, which had a clock frequency of 400 MHz or 450 MHz and bus rates ranging from 66 MHz to 100 MHz. Additionally, it had an on-die Cache memory. On February 26, 1999, the Intel Pentium III 500 MHz was made available. On May 17, 1999, the Intel Pentium III 550 MHz was made public. On June 23, 1999, AMD debuted the Athlon CPU line. For the following six years, Athlon processors with frequencies varying from 500 MHz to 2.33 GHz would be manufactured. On August 2, 1999, the Intel Pentium III 600 MHz was made available. On September 27, 1999, Intel announced the Pentium III 533B and 600B MHz processors. On October 25, 1999, the Intel Pentium III Coppermine line made its debut. The Athlon K75 CPU was unveiled by AMD on November 29, 1999. The K75 became the first CPU in history to operate at 1 GHz.
2000	AMD unveiled the 800 MHz Athlon CPU on January 5, 2000. On January 4, 2000, Intel announced the Celeron 533 MHz with a 66 MHz bus CPU. On June 19, 2000, AMD originally offered the Duron CPU, which had clock speeds ranging from 600 MHz to 1.8 GHz and bus rates ranging from 200 MHz to 266 MHz. Similar to the Athlon CPU, the Duron was created using the K7 design. On August 28th, Intel made a recall announcement for their 1.3 GHz Pentium III CPUs owing to a bug. Users who have these processors should get further info about the issue from their providers.
2001	Intel announced the 800 MHz Celeron CPU with a 100 MHz bus on January 3, 2001. Intel unveiled the 1.3 GHz Pentium 4 CPU on January 3, 2001. On October 9, 2001, AMD made a new branding announcement. The AMD Athlon XP CPUs would be designated as 1500+, 1600+, 1700+, 1800+, 1900+, 2000+, etc., rather than by their clock speeds. Every additional model number corresponds to a faster clock frequency.
2002	The Celeron 1.3 GHz processor from Intel came with a 100 MHz bus and 256 kB of level 2 memory.
2003	In March 2003, Intel Pentium M debuted. On April 22, 2003, AMD introduced the first single-core Opteron CPUs, which ran from 1.4 GHz to 2.4 GHz and included a 1024 KB L2 cache. On April 22, 2003, AMD introduced the first single-core Opteron CPUs, which ran from 1.4 GHz to 2.4 GHz and included a 1024 KB Cache memory. On September 23, 2003, AMD announced the 3200+ model, the first Athlon 64 CPU, and the FX-51 variant, the first Athlon 64 FX CPU.
2004	On July 28, 2004, AMD announced the first Sempron CPU, which had a bus frequency of 166 MHz and a clock rate ranging from 1.5 GHz to 2.0 GHz.
2005	On April 21, 2005, AMD announced their first double CPU, the Athlon 64 X2 3800+ (2.0 GHz, 512 KB L2 memory per core).
2006	On January 9, 2006, AMD unveiled the Athlon 64 FX-60, a new CPU with a dual 1024 KB Cache memory. On April 22, 2006, Intel unveiled the Core 2 Duo CPU E6320 (4 M memory, 1.86 GHz, and 1066 MHz FSB). On July 27, 2006, Intel released the first Core 2 Duo CPU, the E6300 (2 M memory, 1.86 GHz, 1066 MHz FSB). In August 2006, Intel released the Core 2 Duo CPU for laptops, along with the Core 2 Duo T5500 and some other Core 2 Duo T series CPUs.
2007	In January 2007, Intel unveiled the Core 2 Quad CPU Q6600 (8 M memory, 2.40 GHz, and 1066 MHz FSB). On January 21, 2007, Intel announced the Core 2 Duo CPU E4300 (2 M memory, 1.80 GHz, 800 MHz FSB). In April 2007, Intel unveiled the Core 2 Quad CPU Q6700 (8 M memory, 2.67 GHz, and 1066 MHz FSB). On April 22, 2007, Intel unveiled the Core 2 Duo CPU E4400 (2 M memory, 2.00 GHz, 800 MHz FSB). On June 1, 2007, AMD introduced the Brisbane line, the first in their new Athlon X2 CPU range (1.9 to 2.6 GHz, 512 KB L2 cache). On July 22, 2007, Intel announced the Core 2 Duo CPU E4500 (2 M memory, 2.20 GHz, 800 MHz FSB). On October 21, 2007, Intel announced the Core 2 Duo CPU E4600 (2 M memory, 2.40 GHz, 800 MHz FSB). On November 19, 2007, AMD introduced the first Phenom X4 CPUs (2 M memory, 1.8 to 2.6 GHz, and 1066 MHz FSB).
2008	In March 2008, Intel introduced the Core 2 Quad processor Q9300 and Core 2 Quad processor Q9450. On March 2, 2008, Intel announced the Core 2 Duo CPU E4700 (2 M memory, 2.60 GHz, 800 MHz FSB). On March 27, 2008, AMD introduced the first Phenom X3 CPUs (2 M cache, 2.1 to 2.5 GHz, and 1066 MHz FSB). In April 2008, Intel announced the Z5xx family, the first CPU in the Intel Atom line. They have 200 MHz GPUs and single-core CPUs. On April 20, 2008, Intel announced the Core 2 Duo CPU E7200 (3 M memory, 2.53 GHz, 1066 MHz FSB). On August 10, 2008, Intel unveiled the Core 2 Duo CPU E7300 (3 M memory, 2.66 GHz, and 1066 MHz FSB). August 2008 saw the debut of three Core 2 Quad CPUs from Intel: the Q8200, Q9400, and Q9650. On October 19, 2008, Intel announced the Core 2 Duo CPU E7400 (3 M memory, 2.80 GHz, 1066 MHz FSB). The first Core i7 computer CPUs from Intel-the i7-920, i7-940, and i7-965 Extreme Version made available in November 2008.
2009	On January 8, 2009, AMD made available the first Phenom II X4 (quad-core) CPUs (6 M memory, 2.5 to 3.7 GHz, 1066 MHz, or 1333 MHz FSB). On January 8, 2009, AMD introduced the MV-40 edition of the Athlon Neo CPU (1.6 GHz and 512 KB Main memory). On January 18, 2009, Intel introduced the Core 2 Duo CPU E7500 (3 M memory, 2.93 GHz, 1066 MHz FSB). On February 9, 2009, AMD introduced the first Phenom II X3 (triple-core) CPUs (6 M memory, 2.5 to 3.0 GHz, 1066 MHz, or 1333 MHz FSB). In April 2009, Intel unveiled the Core 2 Quad CPU Q8400 (4 M memory, 2.67 GHz, and 1333 MHz FSB). On May 31, 2009, Intel introduced the Core 2 Duo CPU E7600 (3 M memory, 3.06 GHz, and 1066 MHz FSB). First, Athlon II X2 (dual-core) processors from AMD were made available in June 2009 (1024 KB L2 memory, 1.6 to 3.5 GHz, 1066 MHz, or 1333 MHz FSB). On June 1, 2009, AMD made the first Phenom II X2 (dual-core) CPUs available (6 M memory, 3.0 to 3.5 GHz, 1066 MHz, or 1333 MHz FSB). In September 2009, AMD introduced the first Athlon II X4 (quad-core) CPUs (512 KB L2, 2.2 to 3.1 GHz, 1066 MHz, or 1333 MHz FSB). The i7-720QM, the first Intel core I7 mobile CPU from Intel, was made available in September 2009. It operates at 1.6 GHz, has a 6 MB L3 cache, and utilizes the Port G1 port type. On September 8, 2009, Intel announced the i5-750 (8 M memory, 2.67 GHz, 1333 MHz FSB), the very first Intel core i5 computer CPU with a quad-core processor. In October 2009, AMD introduced the first Athlon II X3 (triple-core) CPUs.
2010	In January 2010, Intel unveiled the Core 2 Quad CPU Q9500 (6 M memory, 2.83 GHz, and 1333 MHz FSB). The i5-430M and i5-520E were the first Core i5 phone CPUs announced by Intel in January 2010. In January 2010, Intel unveiled the i5-650, the first Core i5 computer CPU to exceed 3.0 GHz. The i3-530 and i3-540, the first Core i3 desktop CPUs, were made available by Intel on January 7, 2010. On January 7, 2010, Intel launched the i3-330M (3 M memory, 2.13 GHz, 1066 MHz FSB) and i3-350M, the first Core i3 phone CPUs. On April 27, 2010, AMD unveiled the first Phenom II X6 (Hexa/six-core) CPUs. The i3-970, the first six-core Core i7 desktop CPU from Intel, was introduced in July 2010. It has a 12 MB L3 memory and operates at 3.2 GHz.
2011	In January 2011, Intel unveiled seven new Core i5 CPUs with four cores under the i5-2xxx family. The A4-3300M and A4-3310MX, the first cellphone processors in AMD's A4 series, were made available on June 14, 2011. The A6-3400M and A6-3410MX, the first mobile CPUs in AMD's A6 series, were made available on June 14, 2011. On June 14, 2011, AMD introduced the A8-3500M, A8-3510MX, and A8-3530MX, the first mobile CPUs in their A8 family. On June 30, 2011, AMD unveiled the A6-3650 (4 M Memory area, 2.6 GHz, 1866 MHz FSB), the first desktop CPU in their A6 family. On June 30, 2011, AMD unveiled the A8-3850 (4 M L2 memory, 2.9 GHz, 1866 MHz FSB), the first desktop CPU in their A8 family. The A4-3300 and A4-3400, the first desktop CPUs in AMD's A4 family, were made available on September 7, 2011.
2012	On October 1, 2012, AMD introduced the A10-5700 and A10-5800K, the first computer CPUs in their A10 family.
2013	On January 28, 2013, AMD introduced the Athlon II X2 280. It operates at 3.6 GHz and has two cores. On January 28, 2013, AMD introduced the Athlon II X2 280. It operates at 3.6 GHz and has two cores. The first BGA-1364-compatible Intel CPU with an Iris Professional Graphics 5200 GPU was introduced. It was launched in June 2013 and contains 6 MB of Memory space. It operates at 3.2 GHz.
2014	In April 2014, AMD unveiled the port AM1 design and accompanying processors, including the Sempron 2650. In June 2014, AMD launched the A6 Pro-7050B, A8 Pro-7150B, and A10 Pro-7350B as their first Pro A series APU CPUs. They operate at 1.9 GHz to 2.2 GHz and have one or two cores.
2017	The 1700, 1700X, and 1800X variants of AMD's initial Ryzen 7 CPUs were made available on March 2, 2017. They possess eight cores that operate between 3.0 and 3.6 GHz and a 16 MB L3 memory. On April 11, 2017, AMD introduced their first Ryzen 5 CPUs, the 1400, 1500X, 1600, and 1600X versions. They contain 4 to 6 cores operating at 3.2 to 3.6 GHz and an L3 cache of eight to sixteen megabytes. The i9-7900X, the first Core i9 computer CPU from Intel, was introduced in June 2017. It has 10 cores, an LGA 2066 socket, clocks at 3.3 GHz, and has a 13.75 MB L3 memory. On June 29, 2017, AMD launched the Pro 1200 and Pro 1300 variants of their first Ryzen 3 CPUs. They have 4 cores that operate between 3.1 and 3.5 GHz with an 8 MB Memory space. The Core i9-7920X from Intel, the first desktop CPU with 12 cores, was introduced in August 2017. It has a 16.50 MB L3 memory and operates at 2.9 GHz. On August 10, 2017, AMD unveiled its first 16-core CPU, the Ryzen Threadripper 1950X. It has a 32 MB L3 memory and operates at 3.4 GHz. The Core i9-7940X from Intel, the first desktop CPU with 14 cores, was introduced in September 2017. It has a 19.25 MB L3 memory and operates at 3.1 GHz. The Core i9-7960X from Intel, the first desktop CPU with 16 cores, was introduced in September 2017. It has a 22 MB L3 memory and operates at 2.8 GHz. The Core i9-7980X from Intel, the first desktop CPU with 18 cores, was introduced in September 2017. It has a 24.75 MB L3 memory and operates at 2.6 GHz.
2018	The i9-8950HK, the first Core i9 phone CPU from Intel, was introduced in April 2018. It contains six cores, a 2.9 GHz clock speed, a BGA 1440 socket, and a 12 MB L3 memory.
2020	On September 13, 2020, NVIDIA made the $40 billion acquisition of Arm official. On October 27, 2020, AMD said it would pay $35 billion to acquire Xilinx.