A Pentium III Autopsy Using an Electron Microscope
A 250 nm Pentium III processor may not be the most interesting piece of hardware anymore, at least if you depend on running such an antique in your computer.
However, if you have access to an electron microscope, even this old CPU can provide stunning imagery.
A science teacher examined the core of a Pentium III CPU. He removed the package via a power saw and used a scalpel to open the actual CPU cover. The interesting part begins with images that were taken using an optical microscope, enabling him to peek through the holes of the cover to see the connecting points between the CPU and the circuit board. The optical microscope took him close enough to see the different layers of the chip.
He transitioned to an electron microscope and drilled down to a level that we typically only get to see in pictures that are provided by the manufacturer itself. The examination ended at a resolution that allowed him to spot structures as small as 2000 nm, which is not close enough to actually see the transistors, but provides stunning detail of the CPU, even at a 10,000 nm level. Head over to SciencyStuff to see more pictures.
Even if we deal with CPUs on a daily basis (and the Pentium III is more than 11 years old), this is something we don't see too often.
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I love how clicking on the zoom link provides you with a picture that is about 3% larger.
Wow, those are some incredible shots. Boggles my mind how chips can even be manufactured at the sizes they are currently... 0_0
This is interesting, but seeing a CPU being sawed... it somehow tortures me from the inside.
Cool story. I've been looking for one of those for 2 years by now to stuff into my old PC instead of a Celeron... just for the hell of it. Can't get them in the store, no one has one to give away and don't want to deal with ebay. Out of luck, I guess.
I still have an 800mhz P3 that still works.
The P3 is more related to current Intel CPUs than the P4 is, so it's not completely without merit.
250nm? That is incorrect once again people these days need to do their proper research. That is the Coppermine version and is 180nm not 250nm that is the older Katmai that has the external l2 cache. Kamai was only slot one while the Coppermine version can in socket 370 and slot one, the one in pic is the socket 370 version. The last was the Tualatin 130nm series and often had an advantage over most early p4 Willamette cpu-s.
[citation]just for the hell of it. Can't get them in the store, no one has one to give away and don't want to deal with ebay. Out of luck, I guess.[/citation]
So you'd pay an insane premium at a store for Pentium III, but not deal with eBay?
LMFAO
This is interesting, but seeing a CPU being sawed... it somehow tortures me from the inside.Cool story. I've been looking for one of those for 2 years by now to stuff into my old PC instead of a Celeron... just for the hell of it. Can't get them in the store, no one has one to give away and don't want to deal with ebay. Out of luck, I guess.
we have them also
www.atrecycle.com
just junked a pII about a month ago. Still worked, used to play Wolfenstien and Commander Keen on it.
Can't you view something that is 2um in size with an optical microscope pretty easily? What was the electron microscope for?
just junked a pII about a month ago. Still worked, used to play Wolfenstien and Commander Keen on it.
Commander Keen was a GREAT game.
So you'd pay an insane premium at a store for Pentium III, but not deal with eBay? LMFAO
Of course not. Some stores can be reasonable on old tech.
Can't you view something that is 2um in size with an optical microscope pretty easily? What was the electron microscope for?
I'm pretty sure you can't. There is a limit with optical microscopes, one being that normal light's own wavelength is much wider than that.
Intel had to deal with this when it was trying to shrink CPUs even smaller. They were wanting to etch smaller than typical visible light wavelengths. So they moved to UV, extreme UV... which have smaller wavelengths and thus a better resolution, all to get it smaller and smaller.
You havent been looking in the right places!!! I have a Coppermine (180 nm) 850MHz pc100/133 among my old stuff.. it's in perfect working order but I guess you want the 250nm 450mhz? Well those are still around in latinamerica at cheap prices... http://computacion.mercadolibre.co [...] ntium-iii/ Language barrier? click on google translate. I'm sure you could work something out with the seller and probably in english.. most people browsing the net these days understand some english and can communicate with you by any means if they have to...
I'm pretty sure you can't. There is a limit with optical microscopes, one being that normal light's own wavelength is much wider than that. Intel had to deal with this when it was trying to shrink CPUs even smaller. They were wanting to etch smaller than typical visible light wavelengths. So they moved to UV, extreme UV... which have smaller wavelengths and thus a better resolution, all to get it smaller and smaller.
I only asked because I work in optical probes, which typically have worse optics than that of a scientific microscope, and we have meaningful resolution down to a micron. Electron microscopes can view structures more on the order of pm, right?
Cool article. Amazing images.
I'm sure alot of people in the US have older CPUs laying around... I have a Pentium II, Pentium III, and an AMD K6-500. Also try looking at old junked school computers or other small low budget businesses.
I still have the Intel 486 DX2 66mhz chip from my first computer. I'll never forget the specs 486-66 (8mhz without Turbo!), 512kb Paradise Western Digital Video Card, 256mb hard drive, 8mb ram, Sound Blaster 8-bit, and Windows of Workgroups 3.1 on top of DOS 6.22.
I remember having to uninstall my Moms Wordperfect and Print Shop so I could fit my MechWarrior 2 game on it (took 110mb). That really used to tick her off, lol.
Really is interesting to see part of the evolution like this, they should call me if they want to see inside a 486 chip.
Yes, very cool stuff.
It would be nice if the photos were better though.
I'd actually like to see Tom's do a piece on the manufacturing processes involved with producing chips like this in detail. It is really fascinating stuff.
I bet it was fully functional too, because processors don't fry very often. In fact, it's the motherboard that dies and the platform becoming harder and harder to find, sometimes even extinct.
Would be perfect for Linux and such... Too bad. Guess I'll keep it as a reminder of my first computer. Also, I think I'll buy 2 more AM3 motherboards, which will probably last me 12+ years from now (given a decent PSU with basic short-circuit protections).
I still have an Athlon XP 2200+ (1.8 GHz, socket A) bought in 2003 or so, but with no motherboard to use it on.
Pretty soon you'll see reversed engineered P3's on the black market.
I love how clicking on the zoom link provides you with a picture that is about 3% larger.
and then you click on the picture again and get an 1024x768 image...just saying
that looks like my crapy tile in my bathroom
Cool. I have unsoldered the top cover of a P233 CPU. But I didn't have access to an electron microscope.
I still have the Intel 486 DX2 66mhz chip from my first computer. I'll never forget the specs 486-66 (8mhz without Turbo!), 512kb Paradise Western Digital Video Card, 256mb hard drive, 8mb ram, Sound Blaster 8-bit, and Windows of Workgroups 3.1 on top of DOS 6.22.I remember having to uninstall my Moms Wordperfect and Print Shop so I could fit my MechWarrior 2 game on it (took 110mb). That really used to tick her off, lol.Really is interesting to see part of the evolution like this, they should call me if they want to see inside a 486 chip.
LOL I got that game!
This is interesting, but seeing a CPU being sawed... it somehow tortures me from the inside.Cool story. I've been looking for one of those for 2 years by now to stuff into my old PC instead of a Celeron... just for the hell of it. Can't get them in the store, no one has one to give away and don't want to deal with ebay. Out of luck, I guess.
You could always go to garage sales, flea markets, or thrift stores. From one of those places, you may be able to pick up a whole, old pentium 3 tower for next to nothing. scavenge the parts and have spare stuff.
You havent been looking in the right places!!! I have a Coppermine (180 nm) 850MHz pc100/133 among my old stuff.. it's in perfect working order but I guess you want the 250nm 450mhz? Well those are still around in latinamerica at cheap prices... http://computacion.mercadolibre.co [...] ntium-iii/ Language barrier? click on google translate. I'm sure you could work something out with the seller and probably in english.. most people browsing the net these days understand some english and can communicate with you by any means if they have to...
hahahahaha that was funny as hell. It may have not supposed to have been funny, but it was. I checked it out and laughed at 50.00 bucks for a pentium 3. Maybe it is a different currency.
That's intense. 250nm and we still can't see the transistors using a SEM - imagine 28nm which will be coming around shortly.
The beauty of d PC lies on this piece of hardware, that amusingly somehow works like our brains.
250nm... That's incredible. I still have an old laptop with, get this, a pentium I. My smartphone is literally 8 times more powerful than that old laptop... lol
A year ago I bought a PIII 1,4GHz S for $20 to "upgrade" an old PC, and it runs serious apps fluently. And also youtube with Opera!
Why is it such more powerful than Firefox and IE with the same plugin?
And I also frequently use a K3-400 embedded on a '97 PC. Fine emailing and word processing rig, still in use.
Until there is no serious mass recyclement of the PCs, I don't throw them away.
I love how clicking on the zoom link provides you with a picture that is about 3% larger.
http://media.bestofmicro.com/O/B/3 [...] l/im13.jpg
All you gotta do is click again.