Back in February 26th, 1999, or just over 25 years ago now, Intel launched its Pentium III CPU onto the market— in celebration, CPU Duke on Twitter posted die shots of the CPU side-by-side with the holographic sticker that came with it, highlighting just how close the two actually are.
As noted by the CPU Duke, the areas highlighted in red in the image above are quite similar, but a yellow area sees a rotation on the final chip compared to the sticker design. This suggests that the sticker design actually predates the final chip design, which means that while the two are close, it's not a perfect match.
If you suddenly find yourself wishing you had kept your own Intel CPU sticker, don't worry. Intel has long held a free sticker replacement policy, much to the delight of sticker collectors and perfectionists everywhere. However, a glance at modern Intel CPU stickers seemingly just shows model range and generation, not the CPU architecture— so is it still worth it if there's no cool architecture to look at?
Yes, actually— because Intel does, in fact, still put the architecture on the CPU sticker. They have simply reversed the process so that the architecture layout is now shown on the adhesive back of the sticker instead.
So, if you're hoping to enjoy looking at the architecture layout of a modern Intel CPU, you'll be best-served by placing it on the inside of something like a glass side panel for your PC case. This way, the adhesive side of the sticker can cling to the inner surface while still exposing its cool hidden details to you whenever you happen to glance at your PC.
There are also some licensing terms for the use of the Intel CPU stickers, though these are geared toward actual retailers and unenforceable on the average user. If you've modified your CPU, for example, "Intel reserves the right to ask you to stop using the logo label." Don't worry, though, it's unlikely that Intel will send its top-trained agents to your house if you happen to modify your CPU.
