Technology

The Intel i386 turns 40 years old — 275,000 transistors running at 16MHz changed personal computing forever

Source

Tom's Hardware

Published

Oct 19, 2025

TL;DR

AI Generated

The Intel i386, celebrating its 40th anniversary, marked a significant shift in personal computing with its 32-bit architecture, 275,000 transistors, and 16MHz speed. It introduced features like protected mode and hardware paging, enabling multitasking and virtual memory on x86 systems. Compaq was the first to launch a machine with the i386 chip, beating IBM to market and dictating the pace in the PC industry. Linux was also built on the i386, with Torvalds dropping support in 2012 after more than 20 years. The i386's impact extended into the 2010s, with its architecture remaining relevant in emulators, VMs, and legacy systems.

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