Skip to Content

Moore’s Law Hangs On

December 18, 2007

Each of the 820 million transistors on Intel’s three-gigahertz quad-core processor is only 45 nanometers across, 30 percent smaller than those on previous commercial chips. Smaller transistors need thinner layers of electrical insulation–or dielectrics–which is hard to acheive with the traditional insulator, silicon dioxide. With its 45-nanometer chips, however, Intel has begun using a new insulator, hafnium oxide. The quad-core processor (shown here) will probably be used in network servers; a smaller, dual-core processor could turn up in high-end desktop computers.

Product: Intel Core2 Extreme quad-core processor

Cost: $999 in quantities of 1,000

Source: www.intel.com/products/processor/core2XE/

Company: Intel

Keep Reading

Most Popular

Geoffrey Hinton tells us why he’s now scared of the tech he helped build

“I have suddenly switched my views on whether these things are going to be more intelligent than us.”

Meet the people who use Notion to plan their whole lives

The workplace tool’s appeal extends far beyond organizing work projects. Many users find it’s just as useful for managing their free time.

Learning to code isn’t enough

Historically, learn-to-code efforts have provided opportunities for the few, but new efforts are aiming to be inclusive.

Deep learning pioneer Geoffrey Hinton has quit Google

Hinton will be speaking at EmTech Digital on Wednesday.

Stay connected

Illustration by Rose Wong

Get the latest updates from
MIT Technology Review

Discover special offers, top stories, upcoming events, and more.

Thank you for submitting your email!

Explore more newsletters

It looks like something went wrong.

We’re having trouble saving your preferences. Try refreshing this page and updating them one more time. If you continue to get this message, reach out to us at customer-service@technologyreview.com with a list of newsletters you’d like to receive.