Transistor count


The transistor count is the number of transistors in an electronic device. It is the most common measure of integrated circuit complexity. The rate at which MOS transistor counts have increased generally follows Moore's law, which observes that transistor count doubles approximately every two years. However, being directly proportional to the area of a die, transistor count does not represent how advanced the corresponding manufacturing technology is. A better indication of this is transistor density which is the ratio of a semiconductor's transistor count to its die area.

Records

, the highest transistor count in flash memory is Micron's 2terabyte 16-die, 232-layer V-NAND flash memory chip, with 5.3trillion floating-gate MOSFETs.
The highest transistor count in a single chip processor as of 2020 is that of the deep learning processor Wafer Scale Engine 2 by Cerebras. It has 2.6trillion MOSFETs in 84 exposed fields on a wafer, manufactured using TSMC's 7 nm FinFET process.
, the GPU with the highest transistor count is Nvidia's Blackwell-based B100 accelerator, built on TSMC's custom 4NP process node and totaling 208 billion MOSFETs.
The highest transistor count in a consumer microprocessor as of 2025 is 184billion transistors, in Apple's ARM-based dual-die M3 Ultra SoC, which is fabricated using TSMC's 3 nm semiconductor manufacturing process.
In terms of computer systems that consist of numerous integrated circuits, the supercomputer with the highest transistor count as of 2016 was the Chinese-designed Sunway TaihuLight, which has for all CPUs/nodes combined "about 400 trillion transistors in the processing part of the hardware" and "the DRAM includes about 12 quadrillion transistors, and that's about 97 percent of all the transistors." To compare, the smallest computer, as of 2018 dwarfed by a grain of rice, had on the order of 100,000 transistors. Early experimental solid-state computers had as few as 130 transistors but used large amounts of diode logic. The first carbon nanotube computer had 178 transistors and was a 1-bit one-instruction set computer, while a later one is 16-bit.
Ionic transistor chips, have up to hundreds of such transistors.
Estimates of the total numbers of transistors manufactured:
  • Up to 2014:
  • Up to 2018:

    Transistor count

Microprocessors

A microprocessor incorporates the functions of a computer's central processing unit on a single integrated circuit. It is a multi-purpose, programmable device that accepts digital data as input, processes it according to instructions stored in its memory, and provides results as output.
The development of MOS integrated circuit technology in the 1960s led to the development of the first microprocessors. The 20-bit MP944, developed by Garrett AiResearch for the U.S. Navy's F-14 Tomcat fighter in 1970, is considered by its designer Ray Holt to be the first microprocessor. It was a multi-chip microprocessor, fabricated on six MOS chips. However, it was classified by the Navy until 1998. The 4-bit Intel 4004, released in 1971, was the first single-chip microprocessor.
Modern microprocessors typically include on-chip cache memories. The number of transistors used for these cache memories typically far exceeds the number of transistors used to implement the logic of the microprocessor. For example, the last DEC Alpha chip uses 90% of its transistors for cache.
ProcessorTransistor countYearDesignerProcess
Area Transistor
density
MP944 74,442 1970Garrett AiResearch
Intel 4004 2,2501971Intel10,000 nm12 mm2188
TMX 1795 3,0781971Texas Instruments30.64 mm2100.5
Intel 8008 3,5001972Intel10,000 nm14 mm2250
NEC μCOM-4 2,5001973NEC7,500 nm
Toshiba TLCS-12 11,000+1973Toshiba6,000 nm32.45 mm2340+
Intel 4040 3,0001974Intel10,000 nm12 mm2250
Motorola 6800 4,1001974Motorola6,000 nm16 mm2256
Intel 8080 6,0001974Intel6,000 nm20 mm2300
TMS 1000 8,0001974Texas Instruments8,000 nm11 mm2730
HP Nanoprocessor 46391974Hewlett-Packard19 mm2
MOS Technology 6502 4,5281975MOS Technology8,000 nm21 mm2216
Intersil IM6100 4,0001975Intersil
CDP 1801 5,0001975RCA
RCA 1802 5,0001976RCA5,000 nm27 mm2185
Zilog Z80 8,5001976Zilog4,000 nm18 mm2470
Intel 8085 6,5001976Intel3,000 nm20 mm2325
TMS9900 8,0001976Texas Instruments
Bellmac-8 7,0001977Bell Labs5,000 nm
Motorola 6809 9,0001978Motorola5,000 nm21 mm2430
Intel 8086 29,0001978Intel3,000 nm33 mm2880
Zilog Z8000 17,5001979Zilog5,000-6,000 nm 39.31 mm2 445
Intel 8088 29,0001979Intel3,000 nm33 mm2880
Motorola 68000 68,0001979Motorola3,500 nm44 mm21,550
Intel 8051 50,0001980Intel
WDC 65C0211,5001981WDC3,000 nm6 mm21,920
ROMP 45,0001981IBM2,000 nm58.52 mm2770
Intel 80186 55,0001982Intel3,000 nm60 mm2920
Intel 80286 134,0001982Intel1,500 nm49 mm22,730
WDC 65C816 22,0001983WDC3,000 nm9 mm22,400
NEC V2063,0001984NEC
Motorola 68020 190,0001984Motorola2,000 nm85 mm22,200
Intel 80386 275,0001985Intel1,500 nm104 mm22,640
ARM 1 25,0001985Acorn3,000 nm50 mm2500
Novix NC4016 16,0001985Harris Corporation3,000 nm
SPARC MB86900 110,0001986Fujitsu1,200 nm
NEC V60 375,0001986NEC1,500 nm
ARM 2 27,0001986Acorn2,000 nm30.25 mm2890
Z80000 91,0001986Zilog
NEC V70 385,0001987NEC1,500 nm
Hitachi Gmicro/200730,0001987Hitachi1,000 nm
Motorola 68030 273,0001987Motorola800 nm102 mm22,680
TI Explorer's 32-bit Lisp machine chip553,0001987Texas Instruments2,000 nm
DEC WRL MultiTitan180,0001988DEC WRL1,500 nm61 mm22,950
Intel i960 250,0001988Intel1,500 nm
Intel i960CA 600,0001989Intel800 nm143 mm24,200
Intel i860 1,000,0001989Intel
Intel 80486 1,180,2351989Intel1,000 nm173 mm26,822
ARM 3 310,0001989Acorn1,500 nm87 mm23,600
POWER1 6,900,0001990IBM1,000 nm1,283.61 mm25,375
Motorola 68040 1,200,0001990Motorola650 nm152 mm27,900
R4000 1,350,0001991MIPS1,000 nm213 mm26,340
ARM 6 35,0001991ARM800 nm
Hitachi SH-1 600,0001992Hitachi800 nm100 mm26,000
Intel i960CF 900,0001992Intel125 mm27,200
Alpha 21064 1,680,0001992DEC750 nm233.52 mm27,190
Hitachi HARP-1 2,800,0001993Hitachi500 nm267 mm210,500
Pentium 3,100,0001993Intel800 nm294 mm210,500
POWER2 23,037,0001993IBM720 nm1,217.39 mm218,923
ARM700 578,9771994ARM700 nm68.51 mm28,451
MuP21 7,0001994Offete Enterprises1,200 nm
Motorola 68060 2,500,0001994Motorola600 nm218 mm211,500
PowerPC 601 2,800,0001994Apple, IBM, Motorola600 nm121 mm223,000
PowerPC 603 1,600,0001994Apple, IBM, Motorola500 nm84.76 mm218,900
PowerPC 603e 2,600,0001995Apple, IBM, Motorola500 nm98 mm226,500
Alpha 21164 EV5 9,300,0001995DEC500 nm298.65 mm231,140
SA-110 2,500,0001995Acorn, DEC, Apple350 nm50 mm250,000
Pentium Pro 5,500,0001995Intel500 nm307 mm218,000
PA-8000 64-bit, no cache3,800,0001995HP500 nm337.69 mm211,300
Alpha 21164A EV56 9,660,0001996DEC350 nm208.8 mm246,260
AMD K5 4,300,0001996AMD500 nm251 mm217,000
Pentium II Klamath 7,500,0001997Intel350 nm195 mm239,000
AMD K6 8,800,0001997AMD350 nm162 mm254,000
F21 15,0001997Offete Enterprises
AVR 140,000 1997Nordic VLSI/Atmel
Pentium II Deschutes 7,500,0001998Intel250 nm113 mm266,000
Alpha 21264 EV6 15,200,0001998DEC350 nm313.96 mm248,400
Alpha 21164PC PCA57 5,700,0001998Samsung280 nm100.5 mm256,700
Hitachi SH-4 3,200,0001998Hitachi250 nm57.76 mm255,400
ARM 9TDMI 111,0001999Acorn350 nm4.8 mm223,100
Pentium III Katmai 9,500,0001999Intel250 nm128 mm274,000
Emotion Engine 10,500,000
– 13,500,000
1999Sony, Toshiba250 nm239.7 mm243,800 – 56,300
Pentium II Mobile Dixon 27,400,0001999Intel180 nm180 mm2152,000
AMD K6-III 21,300,0001999AMD250 nm118 mm2181,000
AMD K7 22,000,0001999AMD250 nm184 mm2120,000
Gekko 21,000,0002000IBM, Nintendo180 nm43 mm2490,000
Pentium III Coppermine 21,000,0002000Intel180 nm80 mm2263,000
Pentium 4 Willamette 42,000,0002000Intel180 nm217 mm2194,000
SPARC64 V 191,000,0002001Fujitsu130 nm290 mm2659,000
Pentium III Tualatin 45,000,0002001Intel130 nm81 mm2556,000
Pentium 4 Northwood 55,000,0002002Intel130 nm145 mm2379,000
Itanium 2 McKinley 220,000,0002002Intel180 nm421 mm2523,000
Alpha 21364 152,000,0002003DEC180 nm397 mm2383,000
AMD K7 Barton 54,300,0002003AMD130 nm101 mm2538,000
AMD K8 105,900,0002003AMD130 nm193 mm2548,700
Pentium M Banias 77,000,0002003Intel130 nm83 mm2928,000
Itanium 2 Madison 6M 410,000,0002003Intel130 nm374 mm21,096,000
PlayStation 2 single chip 53,500,0002003Sony, Toshiba90 nm
130 nm
86 mm2622,100
Pentium 4 Prescott 112,000,0002004Intel90 nm110 mm21,018,000
Pentium M Dothan 144,000,0002004Intel90 nm87 mm21,655,000
SPARC64 V+ 400,000,0002004Fujitsu90 nm294 mm21,360,000
Itanium 2 592,000,0002004Intel130 nm432 mm21,370,000
Pentium 4 Prescott-2M 169,000,0002005Intel90 nm143 mm21,182,000
Pentium D Smithfield 228,000,0002005Intel90 nm206 mm21,107,000
Xenon 165,000,0002005IBM90 nm
Cell 250,000,0002005Sony, IBM, Toshiba90 nm221 mm21,131,000
Pentium 4 Cedar Mill 184,000,0002006Intel65 nm90 mm22,044,000
Pentium D Presler 362,000,0002006Intel65 nm162 mm22,235,000
Core 2 Duo Conroe 291,000,0002006Intel65 nm143 mm22,035,000
Dual-core Itanium 2 1,700,000,0002006Intel90 nm596 mm22,852,000
AMD K10 quad-core 2M L3 463,000,0002007AMD65 nm283 mm21,636,000
ARM Cortex-A9 26,000,0002007ARM45 nm31 mm2839,000
Core 2 Duo Wolfdale 411,000,0002007Intel45 nm107 mm23,841,000
POWER6 789,000,0002007IBM65 nm341 mm22,314,000
Core 2 Duo Allendale 169,000,0002007Intel65 nm111 mm21,523,000
Uniphier250,000,0002007Matsushita45 nm
SPARC64 VI 540,000,0002007Fujitsu90 nm421 mm21,283,000
Core 2 Duo Wolfdale 3M 230,000,0002008Intel45 nm83 mm22,771,000
Core i7 731,000,0002008Intel45 nm263 mm22,779,000
AMD K10 quad-core 6M L3 758,000,0002008AMD45 nm258 mm22,938,000
Atom 47,000,0002008Intel45 nm24 mm21,958,000
SPARC64 VII 600,000,0002008Fujitsu65 nm445 mm21,348,000
Six-core Xeon 7400 1,900,000,0002008Intel45 nm503 mm23,777,000
Six-core Opteron 2400 904,000,0002009AMD45 nm346 mm22,613,000
SPARC64 VIIIfx 760,000,0002009Fujitsu45 nm513 mm21,481,000
Atom 64-bit, 1-core, 512 kB L2 cache123,000,0002010Intel45 nm66 mm21,864,000
Atom 64-bit, 2-core, 1 MB L2 cache176,000,0002010Intel45 nm87 mm22,023,000
SPARC T3 1,000,000,0002010Sun/Oracle40 nm377 mm22,653,000
Six-core Core i7 1,170,000,0002010Intel32 nm240 mm24,875,000
POWER7 32M L3 1,200,000,0002010IBM45 nm567 mm22,116,000
Quad-core z196 1,400,000,0002010IBM45 nm512 mm22,734,000
Quad-core Itanium Tukwila 2,000,000,0002010Intel65 nm699 mm22,861,000
Xeon Nehalem-EX 2,300,000,0002010Intel45 nm684 mm23,363,000
SPARC64 IXfx 1,870,000,0002011Fujitsu40 nm484 mm23,864,000
Quad-core + GPU Core i7 1,160,000,0002011Intel32 nm216 mm25,370,000
Six-core Core i7/8-core Xeon E5
2,270,000,0002011Intel32 nm434 mm25,230,000
Xeon Westmere-EX 2,600,000,0002011Intel32 nm512 mm25,078,000
Atom "Medfield" 432,000,0002012Intel32 nm64 mm26,750,000
SPARC64 X 2,990,000,0002012Fujitsu28 nm600 mm24,983,000
AMD Bulldozer 1,200,000,0002012AMD32 nm315 mm23,810,000
Quad-core + GPU AMD Trinity 1,303,000,0002012AMD32 nm246 mm25,297,000
Quad-core + GPU Core i7 Ivy Bridge 1,400,000,0002012Intel22 nm160 mm28,750,000
POWER7+ 2,100,000,0002012IBM32 nm567 mm23,704,000
Six-core zEC12 2,750,000,0002012IBM32 nm597 mm24,606,000
Itanium Poulson 3,100,000,0002012Intel32 nm544 mm25,699,000
Xeon Phi 5,000,000,0002012Intel22 nm720 mm26,944,000
Apple A7 1,000,000,0002013Apple28 nm102 mm29,804,000
Six-core Core i7 Ivy Bridge E 1,860,000,0002013Intel22 nm256 mm27,266,000
POWER8 4,200,000,0002013IBM22 nm650 mm26,462,000
Xbox One main SoC 5,000,000,0002013Microsoft, AMD28 nm363 mm213,770,000
Quad-core + GPU Core i7 Haswell 1,400,000,0002014Intel22 nm177 mm27,910,000
Apple A8 2,000,000,0002014Apple20 nm89 mm222,470,000
Core i7 Haswell-E 2,600,000,0002014Intel22 nm355 mm27,324,000
Apple A8X 3,000,000,0002014Apple20 nm128 mm223,440,000
Xeon Ivy Bridge-EX 4,310,000,0002014Intel22 nm541 mm27,967,000
Xeon Haswell-E5 5,560,000,0002014Intel22 nm661 mm28,411,000
Quad-core + GPU GT2 Core i7 Skylake K 1,750,000,0002015Intel14 nm122 mm214,340,000
Dual-core + GPU Iris Core i7 Broadwell-U 1,900,000,0002015Intel14 nm133 mm214,290,000
Apple A9 2,000,000,000+2015Apple14 nm
96 mm2
20,800,000+
Apple A9 2,000,000,000+2015Apple16 nm
104.5 mm2
19,100,000+
Apple A9X 3,000,000,000+2015Apple16 nm143.9 mm220,800,000+
IBM z13 3,990,000,0002015IBM22 nm678 mm25,885,000
IBM z13 Storage Controller7,100,000,0002015IBM22 nm678 mm210,472,000
SPARC M7 10,000,000,0002015Oracle20 nm
Core i7 Broadwell-E 3,200,000,0002016Intel14 nm246 mm213,010,000
Apple A10 Fusion 3,300,000,0002016Apple16 nm125 mm226,400,000
HiSilicon Kirin 960 4,000,000,0002016Huawei16 nm110.00 mm236,360,000
Xeon Broadwell-E5 7,200,000,0002016Intel14 nm456 mm215,790,000
Xeon Phi 8,000,000,0002016Intel14 nm683 mm211,710,000
Zip CPU 1,286 6-LUTs2016Gisselquist Technology
Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 3,000,000,0002016Qualcomm10 nm72.3 mm241,490,000
Apple A11 Bionic 4,300,000,0002017Apple10 nm89.23 mm248,190,000
AMD Zen CCX 1,400,000,0002017AMD14 nm
44 mm231,800,000
AMD Zeppelin SoC Ryzen 4,800,000,0002017AMD14 nm192 mm225,000,000
AMD Ryzen 5 1600 Ryzen 4,800,000,0002017AMD14 nm213 mm222,530,000
IBM z14 6,100,000,0002017IBM14 nm696 mm28,764,000
IBM z14 Storage Controller 9,700,000,0002017IBM14 nm696 mm213,940,000
HiSilicon Kirin 970 5,500,000,0002017Huawei10 nm96.72 mm256,900,000
Xbox One X main SoC 7,000,000,0002017Microsoft, AMD16 nm360 mm219,440,000
Xeon Platinum 8180 8,000,000,0002017Intel14 nm
Xeon 7,100,000,0002017Intel14 nm672 mm210,570,000
POWER9 8,000,000,0002017IBM14 nm695 mm211,500,000
Freedom U500 Base Platform Chip RISC-V 250,000,0002017SiFive28 nm~30 mm28,330,000
SPARC64 XII 5,450,000,0002017Fujitsu20 nm795 mm26,850,000
Apple A10X Fusion 4,300,000,0002017Apple10 nm96.40 mm244,600,000
Centriq 2400 18,000,000,0002017Qualcomm10 nm398 mm245,200,000
AMD Epyc 19,200,000,0002017AMD14 nm768 mm225,000,000
Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 5,300,000,0002017Qualcomm10 nm94 mm256,400,000
Qualcomm Snapdragon 850 5,300,000,0002017Qualcomm10 nm94 mm256,400,000
HiSilicon Kirin 710 5,500,000,0002018Huawei12 nm
Apple A12 Bionic 6,900,000,000
2018Apple7 nm83.27 mm282,900,000
HiSilicon Kirin 980 6,900,000,0002018Huawei7 nm74.13 mm293,100,000
Qualcomm Snapdragon 8cx / SCX8180 8,500,000,0002018Qualcomm7 nm112 mm275,900,000
Apple A12X Bionic 10,000,000,0002018Apple7 nm122 mm282,000,000
Fujitsu A64FX 8,786,000,0002018Fujitsu7 nm
Tegra Xavier SoC 9,000,000,0002018Nvidia12 nm350 mm225,700,000
Qualcomm Snapdragon 855 6,700,000,0002018Qualcomm7 nm73 mm291,800,000
AMD Zen 2 core 475,000,0002019AMD7 nm7.83 mm260,664,000
AMD Zen 2 CCX 1,900,000,0002019AMD7 nm31.32 mm260,664,000
AMD Zen 2 CCD 3,800,000,0002019AMD7 nm74 mm251,350,000
AMD Zen 2 client I/O die2,090,000,0002019AMD12 nm125 mm216,720,000
AMD Zen 2 server I/O die8,340,000,0002019AMD12 nm416 mm220,050,000
AMD Zen 2 Renoir die9,800,000,0002019AMD7 nm156 mm262,820,000
AMD Ryzen 7 3700X 5,990,000,0002019AMD7 & 12 nm
199
mm2
30,100,000
HiSilicon Kirin 990 4G8,000,000,0002019Huawei7 nm90.00 mm289,000,000
Apple A13 8,500,000,000
2019Apple7 nm98.48 mm286,300,000
IBM z15 CP chip 9,200,000,0002019IBM14 nm696 mm213,220,000
IBM z15 SC chip 12,200,000,0002019IBM14 nm696 mm217,530,000
AMD Ryzen 9 3900X 9,890,000,000
2019AMD7 & 12 nm
273 mm236,230,000
HiSilicon Kirin 990 5G10,300,000,0002019Huawei7 nm113.31 mm290,900,000
AWS Graviton2 30,000,000,0002019Amazon7 nm
AMD Epyc Rome 39,540,000,000
2019AMD7 & 12 nm
1,008 mm239,226,000
Qualcomm Snapdragon 865 10,300,000,0002019Qualcomm7 nm83.54 mm2123,300,000
TI Jacinto TDA4VM 3,500,000,0002020Texas Instruments16 nm
Apple A14 Bionic 11,800,000,0002020Apple5 nm88 mm2134,100,000
Apple M1 16,000,000,0002020Apple5 nm119 mm2134,500,000
HiSilicon Kirin 900015,300,000,000
2020Huawei5 nm114 mm2134,200,000
AMD Zen 3 CCX 4,080,000,0002020AMD7 nm68 mm260,000,000
AMD Zen 3 CCD 4,150,000,0002020AMD7 nm81 mm251,230,000
Core 11th gen Rocket Lake 6,000,000,000+2021Intel14 nm +++ 14 nm276 mm237,500,000 or 21,800,000+
AMD Ryzen 7 5800H 10,700,000,0002021AMD7 nm180 mm259,440,000
AMD Epyc 7763 ?2021AMD7 & 12 nm
1,064 mm2
Apple A1515,000,000,000
2021Apple5 nm107.68 mm2139,300,000
Apple M1 Pro 33,700,000,0002021Apple5 nm245 mm2137,600,000
Apple M1 Max 57,000,000,000
2021Apple5 nm420.2 mm2135,600,000
Power10 dual-chip module 36,000,000,0002021IBM7 nm1,204 mm229,900,000
Dimensity 9000 15,300,000,000
2021Mediatek4 nm
Apple A16 16,000,000,000
2022Apple4 nm
Apple M1 Ultra 114,000,000,000
2022Apple5 nm840.5 mm2135,600,000
AMD Epyc 7773X 26,000,000,000 + Milan2022AMD7 & 12 nm
1,352 mm2
IBM Telum dual-chip module 45,000,000,000
2022IBM7 nm 1,060 mm242,450,000
Apple M2 20,000,000,0002022Apple5 nm
Dimensity 9200 17,000,000,000
2022Mediatek4 nm
Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 16,000,000,0002022Qualcomm4 nm268 mm259,701,492
AMD EPYC Genoa 13-chip module + 96 MB 90,000,000,000
2022AMD5 nm
6 nm
1,263.34 mm2
12×72.225
396.64
71,240,000
HiSilicon Kirin 9000s9,510,000,0002023Huawei7 nm107 mm2107,690,000
Apple M4 28,000,000,0002024Apple3 nm
Apple M3 25,000,000,0002023Apple3 nm
Apple M3 Pro 37,000,000,0002023Apple3 nm
Apple M3 Max 92,000,000,0002023Apple3 nm
Apple A1719,000,000,000
2023Apple3 nm103.8 mm2183,044,315
Sapphire Rapids quad-chip module 44,000,000,000–
48,000,000,000
2023Intel10 nm ESF 1,600 mm227,500,000–
30,000,000
Apple M2 Pro 40,000,000,0002023Apple5 nm
Apple M2 Max 67,000,000,0002023Apple5 nm
Apple M2 Ultra 134,000,000,0002023Apple5 nm
AMD Epyc Bergamo 9-chip module + 128 MB 82,000,000,0002023AMD5 nm
6 nm
AMD Instinct MI300A 146,000,000,0002023AMD5 nm
6 nm
1,017 mm2144,000,000
RV32-WUJI: 3-atom-thick molybdenum disulfide on sapphire; RISC-V architecture593120253000 nm
ProcessorTransistor countYearDesignerProcess
Area Transistor
density