30 years of CPUs at Tom’s Hardware — looking back on three decades of processors, from the Pentium II to Ryzen 9 9950X3D2

This article reviews Tom's Hardware's long-term coverage of CPU development since its inception in 1996, tracing the evolution from early Pentium II processors to today's Ryzen 9 9950X3D2, highlightin... Read original →

From Pentium II to Ryzen 9 9950X3D2, the CPU evolution reflects a profound transformation in the semiconductor industry. The shift from 350nm to 3nm processes has dramatically enhanced chip integration and energy efficiency, reshaping the upstream EDA and photolithography markets. AMD's rise with the K7 architecture illustrates how instruction set design can decisively influence performance, prompting broader industry investment in multi-core and high-concurrency architectures. Geopolitical dynamics, especially in the U.S.-China tech decoupling context, are intensifying supply chain localization pressures, forcing companies to reassess risks in manufacturing and partnerships. In response to escalating performance demands, both Intel and AMD are accelerating toward heterogeneous computing and AI accelerators, signaling a future where chips are no longer solely focused on general-purpose computing but are modularizing and specializing. Short-term constraints from advanced process bottlenecks and cost inflation will limit market expansion, while long-term trends point toward a new competitive phase centered on 'computing power as the core asset.'