A detailed die photo of the 8086 microprocessor. The metal layer has been removed to show the silicon underneath. https://assets.oldbytes.space/assets.oldbytes.space/media_attachments/files/109/689/047/540/089/437/original/7f685d3d2f344610.png
Everyone says the Intel 8086 processor has 29,000 tiny transistors. But I counted and found 19,618. Why the difference? It turns out that most counts include "potential" transistors as well as real ones. Let's take a look and find out why.🧵