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The transistor count is the number of transistors on an integrated circuit (IC). Transistor count is the most common measure of IC complexity, although there are caveats. For instance, the majority of transistors are contained in the cache memories in modern microprocessors, which consist mostly of the same memory cell circuits replicated many times. The rate at which transistor counts have increased generally follows Moore's law, which observed that the transistor count doubles approximately every two years. As of 2016, the largest transistor count in a commercially available single-chip processor is over 7.2 billion—the Intel Broadwell-EP Xeon. In other types of ICs, such as field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), Intel's (previously Altera) Stratix 10 has the largest transistor count, containing over 30 billion transistors.
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Microprocessors
A microprocessor incorporates the functions of a computer's central processing unit on a single integrated circuit. It is a multipurpose, programmable device that accepts digital data as input, processes it according to instructions stored in its memory, and provides results as output.
Transistorized computers
The "second generation" of computers (transistor computers) featured boards filled with discrete transistors and magnetic memory cores.
GPUs
A graphics processing unit (GPU) is a specialized electronic circuit designed to rapidly manipulate and alter memory to accelerate the building of images in a frame buffer intended for output to a display.
FPGA
A field-programmable gate array (FPGA) is an integrated circuit designed to be configured by a customer or a designer after manufacturing.
Logic functions
Transistor count for generic logic functions is based on static CMOS implementation.
Memory
Semiconductor memory is an electronic data storage device, often used as computer memory, implemented on integrated circuit.
We know that in order to store a single bit (which may be 1 or 0), one flip-flop is required, made of around eight transistors. Typical CMOS Static random-access memory (SRAM) consists of 6 transistors. For Dynamic random-access memory (DRAM), 1T1C, which means one transistor and one capacitor structure is common. Capacitor charged or not is used to store 1 or 0. For flash memory, the data is stored in floating gate, and the resistance of the transistor is sensed to interpret the data stored. Depending on how fine scale the resistance could be separated, one transistor could store up to 3-bits, meaning eight distinctive level of resistance possible per transistor. However, the fine the scale comes with cost of repeatability therefore reliability. Typically, low grade 2-bits MLC flash is used for flash drive, so a 16 GB flash drive contains roughly 64 billion transistors.
Parallel systems
Historically, each processing element in earlier parallel systems—like all CPUs of that time—was a serial computer built out of multiple chips. As transistor counts per chip increases, each processing element could be built out of fewer chips, and then later each multi-core processor chip could contain more processing elements.
Goodyear MPP : (1983?) 8 pixel processors per chip, 3,000 to 8,000 transistors per chip.
Brunel University Scape (single-chip array-processing element): (1983) 256 pixel processors per chip, 120,000 to 140,000 transistors per chip.
Cell Broadband Engine: (2006) 9 cores per chip, 234 million transistors per chip.