CPU Duke
@duke_cpu
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CPU collector and enthusiast. Microscopy of vintage microelectronics, x86 and more. Please visit also my Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube channel for more…
Germany
Joined December 2021
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Pinned Tweet
It’s a
#wrap
! The top drawer shows a random shiny collection of
#CPUs
visible always through the glass top. This is followed by 6 further drawers carrying
#2
Intel,
#3
Cyrix/IBM/TI,
#4
Motorola,
#5
AMD,
#6
various ICs,
#7
Intel Server CPUs. Now I have space again! 2/2
It’s a wrap! Late November I started a new project with the aim to rearrange my large
#CPU
collection. I set up a cupboard with several drawers to now display the
#CPU
collection
#horizontally
. I still use my wooden cases for vertically exhibiting some chips. 1/2
8
30
212
10
68
250
In the mid 90s, I started
#collecting
#CPUs
and crafted my own wooden case to sort and display them. Over time, I needed a second and larger one. Today, I have more than 1000
#microprocessors
and I hence started a new project to manage this new era. Stay tuned for the result!
106
440
3K
It’s a 🐖 with ❤️! I was not aware of DRAM chips being a place to hide a
#silicondoodle
, but for whatever reason, a heart-perforated
#pig
is walking on this IC made by Taiwanese memory giant
#NanyaTechnologies
. Anyone has a theory’s why?
14
99
570
For the silicon die lovers… the Pentium Pro 512kB L2 Cache, 1995!
10
65
504
It´s an 8080!
I did not dare decapping the original Intel 8080 but some time ago, I opened a NEC version - the D8080AF from 1976. How do you like the macro shot?
11
59
411
#StitchOfTheDay
!
#Motorola
´s famous 68K - the engine that powered so many computers and consoles in the 80s and 90s like the
#Commodore
#Amiga
,
#AtariST
,
#Apple
#Macintosh
,
#Sega
#Genesis
and
#MegaDrive
, etc. Enjoy the week!
10
59
399
It’s a fish! Some hopefully friendly
#Piranhas
are swimming on this
#MCU
from
#STMicroelectronics
. The integrated
#ARM
32-bit Cortex-M3 CPU is clearly visible on the
#chip
made in 2006. Clearly,
#silicondoodles
were still placed on circuits later than the year 2000!
10
55
367
Fujitsu MB86904 - a 32 bit microSPARC II core RISC processor from the mid 1990s. Produced with 0.5 micron CMOS 3L technology and 2.3 million transistors.
3
46
367
It’s an elephant! This
#vintage
#DRAM
produced by ZMD in the late 1980s shows a beautiful
#silicondoodle
just above the
#chip
’s designation. The U2164 has a 16kbit storage depth and my theory is that this memory feature is the reason for the 🐘. After all, an 🐘 never forgets!
8
62
361
#StitchOfTheDay
- Texas Instruments Octal Bus Transceiver with 3-State Output - SN74ALS245AN. Year on the die: 1986!
5
48
321
It´s a 8080!
I also stitched 70 microscopy pictures to one picture...beautiful transistors...
It´s an 8080!
I did not dare decapping the original Intel 8080 but some time ago, I opened a NEC version - the D8080AF from 1976. How do you like the macro shot?
11
59
411
5
46
324
5
56
304
It´s a
#Philips
(again)! This multi-
#silicondoodle
#chip
deserved a special shot: stitched
#microscopy
photographs with an overlay of all doodles on the die - the owl family, the crest of the city Hamburg, the 2 Philips logos, the designer´s special markings, and a macro shot!
4
39
291
It’s an Organigram! The
#vintage
#AnalogDevices
ADSP-2100 has no
#silicondoodle
but the development team left some clues how the
#chip
was designed, who was involved and how the work flow process was organised. Fascinating!
4
34
282
It’s a
#Smurf
!
#silicondoodles
-so the urban myth- were placed to proof counterfeiting in front of court.
This
#chip
tries to claim
#copyright
by using a
#trademark
protected figure like the Smurf pulling a wagon with the copyright logo!
Insane? Paradox? Funny?
Welcome to the
4
42
286
It’s a vintage phone! The
#chip
was produced in the early 90s by ZMD and the designers were placing a vintage 📞 from the 1950s as
#silicondoodle
on the
#silicon
#die
. The U1001 is a Filter IC allowing analog to digital conversion of phone signals…
6
49
282
#Cyrix
’s technological masterpiece, the
#5x86
#microprocessor
, hides an awesome
#silicondoodle
: a
#chili
pepper. Why? Although this
#CPU
is code named M1sc or M9 the designers unofficially called this project “Chili”. 2 million transistors fabricated with 650 nm tech!
5
43
265
It’s patented! The
#Dallas
DS1685 real time clock module has no
#silicondoodle
but instead tells the reverse engineer directly which patents to read in order to progress faster! Remember that doodles were used in counterfeiting before the Trademark Counterfeiting Act of 1984…
7
33
266
It’s a dinosaur! This VR-glasses wearing
#Velociraptor
is lurking between the transistors of the
#HP
PA RISC 7300LC. HP is known for its
#silicondoodle
‘sunken via technique’ where small ‘pixels’ are created (vias) which are finally filled with metal to create the image. Crazy!
7
38
259
#Intel
´s famous 286
#CPU
#die
stitched from 150 individual
#microscopy
pictures using a simple light microscope (where bond wires are really golden). Even without any
#silicondoodle
, the 134,000 transistors produced at 1500 nm technology are magical.
#CPUDuke
8
45
224
It’s a bird! The LPC1343 is a 32bit
#ARM
#Cortex
-M3 based
#microcontroller
made by
#NXP
in 2008. The ARM
#chip
is clearly visible as a separate circuit on the silicon die. A fascinating
#hummingbird
#silicondoodle
watches over the chip from one of the corners.
3
26
220
#StitchOfTheDay
! The power man watches over this vintage remote power controller for ISDN devices. Nice
#silicondoodle
by
#Siemens
! Enjoy the Sunday!
3
16
223
It’s a transputer! With
#CPUs
reaching fast their limits in the 1980s,
#INMOS
was following the idea of parallel computing to increase performance.
#transputer
stems from transistor & computer, where computers would be up numbered as were transistors before to reach scale…
13
35
222
#vintage
#chip
of
#Ferranti
of unknown funtion stitched from 165 individual
#microscope
pictures. It is the NCFRD 19A-DSZ1-M8 produced mid 1986! Enjoy!
7
21
215
It’s a wrap! Late November I started a new project with the aim to rearrange my large
#CPU
collection. I set up a cupboard with several drawers to now display the
#CPU
collection
#horizontally
. I still use my wooden cases for vertically exhibiting some chips. 1/2
In the mid 90s, I started
#collecting
#CPUs
and crafted my own wooden case to sort and display them. Over time, I needed a second and larger one. Today, I have more than 1000
#microprocessors
and I hence started a new project to manage this new era. Stay tuned for the result!
106
440
3K
8
30
212
It’s
#Anubis
!
The jackal-headed ancient Egyptian god is watching over this mummified/metal layer protected die!
Anubis facilitates mummification, protects the burial chambers and decides whether or not one‘s soul should be granted eternal life!
If it would be up to me, I’d keep
It´s a
#R12000
!
In November 1998, so exactly 25 years ago to month, NEC Corporation introduced its MIPS R12000. The VR12K operated with a 64-bit RISC design, 64kB L1 cache and more than 7 million transistors produced @ 250 nm.
The CPU was used in NEC supercomputers and several
2
27
148
3
35
199
It’s a
#OneChipTV
! This
#vintage
#IC
from
#Philips
is a single-chip TV processor containing nearly all small signal functions required for a color TV receiver. It also contains a nice
#silicondoodle
. Funny that they made the dots between the T.V. ?📺 Have a nice Sunday!
2
38
197
It’s a Cypress! Not really a
#silicondoodle
but simply a nice company logo.
#Cypress
(now part of
#Infineon
) produced the VIC068A - a bus controller for VMEbus (Versa Module Eurocard) originally designed for the
#68000
#processor
family. A
#chip
from the early 90s!
2
24
202
Today, my 3 Teslas were delivered! I can not wait to have a peek under the hood…
7
18
201
It’s a sharptooth+!
Since years I am trying to get my fingers on the high-end
#AMD
K6-III+, code named sharptooth. Both the K6-III and K6-III+ have 64kB L1 and full speed 256kB L2 cache onboard. The main difference is the reduced node from 250nm to 180nm enabling >500MHz & <2.2V.
9
34
202
Happy New Year 2023!🥳
You already opened and enjoyed your sparkling wine or even Champagne?🎉🍾🍷
Well opening bottles is rather easy, but what about
#decapping
#chips
? Have a look yourself how I opened two dozens of chips in this Decapping
#Medley
!
3
30
193
It’s
#EarthDay
! 🌼
In the silicon world, there are many doodles representing plants 🌱, like the Lattice logo with a forest 🌲, the ITT fir tree, or the Cypress 🌳 logo.
Yesterday, I decapped an old friend, the AMD 386SX/SXL-33, long in my collection, and finally I found the
6
37
193
It´s a short
#Silicondoodle
#Medley
2023!
Here my 40 doodles I found in 2023 in less than a minute (Music ON!!!).
2
32
187
Anyone still using an ISDN system? If yes, chances are high there is this
#AMD
#chip
installed! The designers left a
#silicondoodle
in one of the corners of the AM79C30
#microcontroller
- ring ring!
6
31
181
#CatchOfTheDay
!
Again on the flea market…and found a CP/M-86 microcomputer for a few Euros…all chips from 1984!
#vintage
#retro
This 40 years old RC 750 runs with a 8MHz Intel 80186, so 16bit, actually there are two installed…??? Anyone knows why?
9
21
185
While my
#silicondoodle
hunt is in full swing, I wanted to quickly comment on my setup. While my Bresser 20/40x microscope serves well for repairs, I use my Radical metallurgy microscope for close ups. Stitches give best results with pictures from my 24MP Sony Alpha 6000. Enjoy!
7
18
184
It’s a
#bunny
! There is gorgeous
#silicondoodle
on this
#Siemens
#IC
. The bunny resembles the
#Playboy
logo of
#ArthurPaul
created in 1953, but it has a bent ear, no bow tie, and a large grin on his face. I could not find the data sheet of this
#chip
but maybe its function has to
6
22
178
#StitchOfTheDay
!
#TexasInstruments
SN74ALS245AN - Octal Bus transceiver with 3-state outputs.
Enjoy the week!
3
28
177
It’s a Power Man! The PSB 2120 is a
#Siemens
IRPC - ISDN Remote Power Controller - from 1989! The
#silicondoodle
shows a stick man with a large 💪! Vintage power from the 80s!
16
26
171
It’s one week to
#Christmas
, so I thought I set up the Christmas tree! 🎄.
Which CPU would you hang on your tree?
21
29
177
It’s a computer! Thanks to
#DallasSemiconductor
for reminding me of this most counterintuitive thought that according to the
#silicondoodle
on the
#die
of this
#vintage
#IC
, this
#chip
is actually a… computer product! I am happy that we could finally clarify this debate! 💻 🖥️
1
19
172
🎉1000 thanks to my 1000 followers!🎉
Let us
#celebrate
this milestone together with the delidding of a
#chip
that was one of the first to be produced with
#Intel
´s 1000nm CMOS IV technology: the 387DX.🎇
#FPU
#1
µmequals1000nm
#cpu
#funwithchips
4
31
170
It´s a flash! Next to the double Con Artists (representing two FPU units on the
#HP
1FQ2 3D Accelerator processor), a high voltage flash is placed as third
#silicondoodle
near the left lower corner of the
#die
. I love this one...
3
23
171
#StitchOfTheDay
! This 12-bit DAC
#chip
called C565C (from an unknown producer) shows a great purple iridescence as 140-microscopic-photo-stitch!
4
19
165
It’s
#teletext
! This
#vintage
IC from
#Siemens
shows a small
#silicondoodle
in the form of a TV set with some “text“.
The SDA5243 is a 40 pin computer-controlled teletext decoder from the nineties. Anyone remembers this TV function?
9
25
164
It´s a
#Pentium
!
#OnThisDay
, on March 22 1993, the Intel Pentium
#processor
was officially launched. This "80586" represents a unique milestone in the
#CPU
history. I will celebrate this special day and week with several Tweets and videos... join in!
5
46
162
#StitchOfTheDay
! This vintage
#chip
from
#Lattice
is a Generic Array Logic (
#GAL
). Lattice is one of the few survivors still producing field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs) today. Enjoy the weekend!
3
22
155
It’s
#Calimero
!
The Austrian designers of this
#ASIC
must have loved the Italian Icon from the 1960s so much that they placed a Calimero
#Silicondoodle
. This RF transceiver IC is made by
#Infineon
and is one of various chips on the IPhone 4S PCB. 🥚 🐔
3
20
158
It’s Made In USA! I found this
#chip
from
#AMD
on a
#SPARC
motherboard. According to the data sheet, the Am29C660 is a CMOS Cascadable 32-bit Error Detection and Correction Circuit. The
#silicondoodle
makes its origin quiet clear: 🇺🇸!
1
19
157
It’s a set of
#Texas
#Longhorns
. Back in the mid 90s, those 486DX4 chips were the peak performer
#CPUs
until the
#Intel
Pentium was introduced.
#AMD
even pushed it to 120MHz with 0.35 micron. I never understood why these were actually called DX4 as the clock multiplier was 3!
8
19
154
It’s a
#Turtle
!
The
#AnalogDevices
microprocessor ADSP-2111 belongs to the 21xx family of 16bit DSPs with on board memory featuring 25 MIPS…the
#silicondoodle
in the form of a turtle somehow reminds me of the teenage mutant ninja turtles…
#Cowabunga
!
5
18
152
It´s a
#R12000
!
In November 1998, so exactly 25 years ago to month, NEC Corporation introduced its MIPS R12000. The VR12K operated with a 64-bit RISC design, 64kB L1 cache and more than 7 million transistors produced @ 250 nm.
The CPU was used in NEC supercomputers and several
2
27
148
It’s a
#shark
!
There is a beast lurking on this Digital Signal Processor from
#AnalogDevices
. As this 120MFLOPs-50MIPS-32bit-DSP is code-named SHARC, it should not be surprising to find this cool
#silicondoodle
. SHARC Attac! 🦈
0
32
145
Welcoming the newbies of my
#CPU
collection -
#AMD
K5 SSA/5 versions with 75, 133 and 150 MHz.
Macroshot, picture prior to polishing, set picture and final destination in AMD collection.
#processor
#collection
3
22
144
It’s
#Ganesha
along with
#YinandYang
!
The
#Qualcomm
#chip
is full of
#silicondoodles
. I am not sure if there is a specific reason for the two doodles on this die, but Ganesha is obviously the Elefant-headed god in Hindu religion, and Yin and Yang is an important part of the
4
32
140
Enjoy this „live die surgery“ on the
#AnalogDevices
chip containing a nice
#silicondoodle
. It is unfortunately partially hidden by a wire and I had to surgically remove the 25 micron thick silver wire. The clip is 2 min long so do not miss out the end and the voice over!
0
14
139
It’s a wrap! I just finished the decapping of 5
#vintage
#ICs
and I am happy that none of the
#silicon
#dies
broke or shattered. Can’t wait to find
#silicondoodles
or other scribbles on those
#chips
. Stay tuned for my next posts!
#silicondieart
#siliconart
#funwithchips
2
17
137
Double IC DIP 28, probably for a Tektronix Oscilloscope, containing AD9002, a high speed 8bit AD converter.
4
27
136
It’s a
#DRACO
! As promised I decapped another chip from
#Nanya
‘s 128MB memory stick to produce better pictures. This time I etched the polyamide layer more carefully… 🔥 🐉 Enjoy!
It’s a
#dragon
! The 128 Mb DDR memory stick made by
#Nanya
appears to be called ‚DRACO‘, so what could be more logical than placing a fire spitting dragon as
#silicondoodle
? Sorry for the bad picture quality, I was already rather lucky find the logo on this
#IC
(and I will try to
1
15
68
2
27
134
Some more pictures of the
#Philips
TDA4661: standard 16 pin DIP package, die macro shot, a functional layout of the chip, and a close up of the
#owl
family.
#silicondoodle
1
20
128
#RetroPC
#Soundblaster
Back in the days of my adolescence, I was craving for good sound playing
#adventure
PC games and alike.
I eventually went for a SoundBlaster 16 with wave extensions. Today, 3 decades later, I bought 3 generations for my
#RetroPC
. Which one would you use?
18
11
128
It’s a
#weightlifter
! This
#vintage
#IC
from
#ITT
shows a small
#silicondoodle
in the form of a powerful weightlifter. The function of the MEA2600 is probably a video-audio related one. Anyone knows?
2
15
123
It´s a wrap! Thanks a lot to all for watching and reading my tweets in 2022!
Merry Christmas, Season´s Greeting and a Happy New Year to you all! 🎅🏼
🎄Please enjoy my
#silicondoodle
#Medley
2022 and watch out for my new posts coming along.
CPU Duke
0
26
126
It’s an
#owl
! 🦉
This vintage
#chip
made by
#Qualcomm
is used in digital communication applications and the die is full of interesting
#silicondoodles
. The most majestic one is this large owl sitting on a branch - a really nice doodle! 🦉 not sure though what the sentence is
1
21
121
#ShowMeTheMoney
!
#Qualcomm
QFE1100, the world‘s first envelope tracking IC for 3G/4G. The chip was installed as power IC in
#Apple
‘s IPhone 6S saving up to 20-30% battery utilisation.🪫 And yes, saving power is saving money!
1
18
120
It´s
#DOOM
!
30 years ago to this date, DOOM was released.🎂👿
As a tribute to this anniversary, I started two weeks ago the challenge to revive a 30 years old PC from the flea market to play DOOM exactly the way it was done in 1993.
#Happy
#Birthday
!
The PC is a
#SiemensNixdorf
4
15
116
What the duck? As I am always referring to a ‘hunt’ when twittering about the search for
#silicondoodles
, this week’s hunting theme became obvious: it’s duck season! The Siemens 8bit microcontroller is from the late 80’s, and I have no clue why the duck is placed there! You?
3
20
117
It’s a
#Lotus
flower! This tiny Asian floral ornament is to be found on the
#vintage
IC made by
#Intersil
. The CerDIP package of the IM7008 was produced in Singapore in early 1978 and the chip was originally designed in (c) 1976. It took the
#silicondoodle
flower 45 years to see
1
17
117
It’s a
#Zombie
!
This specialised decoder from
#Qualcomm
has tons of cool
#Silicondoodles
. As it is
#Halloween
weekend the Zombie doodle fits perfectly! Enjoy! 🧟♀️ 🧟♂️ 🎃 👻
1
26
113
It´s a Precision Circuit! This vintage IC DS1486 from
#DallasSemi
is a time controlling circuit from the 90s
- category "RAMified Watchdog Timekeepers". A nice logo, a cute
#silicondoodle
#texas
map and a descriptive tagline!
3
21
109
It’s a
#Guitarosaurus
! 🎸 🦖
A guitar-strumming T-Rex (the R12000‘s code name) is rocking on the stage of this silicon die. Next to the
#SGI
logo, there is also a Californian license plate showing the ID of the chip. The
#Silicondoodles
are absolutely fabulous on this processor
2
25
115
#StitchOfTheDay
! Voltage sensing circuit from
#SiliconGeneral
produced in 1992. Enjoy your Monday!
2
15
111
It’s
#Groucho
!
The cartoon of one of the famous Marx Brothers was placed as
#Silicondoodle
on the
#NEC
VR12K. Maybe the mask designers just wanted to put a „mask“ on the silicon
#die
? The arrows shows where to find the doodle…
It’s
#Anubis
!
The jackal-headed ancient Egyptian god is watching over this mummified/metal layer protected die!
Anubis facilitates mummification, protects the burial chambers and decides whether or not one‘s soul should be granted eternal life!
If it would be up to me, I’d keep
3
35
199
0
26
112
It´s a
#Katmai
!
you ever wondered if the
#holograms
stickers which are placed on the Pentium III SECC packages really represent the actual
#silicon
#die
?
I had a closer look comparing
@FritzchensFritz
fantastic die shots with a macro photography of the sticker...
The red areas
3
20
111
It‘s a cow! An amazingly detailed
#silicondoodle
is located on the digital signal processor ADSP-2101 from
#AnalogDevices
. Next to the eyes, spots, dairy udder and the stamp burn, I love that the designers chose green as the background. Let the cow grass on this silicon meadows!
0
14
111