Pin count is an interesting way to look at chip complexity. The new CPUs being developed by Intel bring this up to a ridiculous number: 4,189. From AnandTech:
Intel’s LGA4189-4 and LGA4189-5 for Cooper Lake & Ice Lake CPUs Now Available
TE Connectivity, a maker of various connectivity solutions, has introduced its newly-developed LGA4189 sockets for Intel’s next-generation Xeon Scalable processors supporting PCIe Gen 4. The products have been validated by Intel and are therefore ready for production of motherboards aimed at next-gen servers. It is worth noting that we already know some Cooper Lake systems are already deployed at large companies, suggesting that some LGA4189 sockets have been validated already.
TE offers LGA4189-4 and LGA3189-5 sockets (which are called Socket P4 and Socket P5), appropriate backplates, compatible bolster plates, mounting mechanisms, and dust covers. As discovered previously, Intel’s next-generation Xeon Scalable processors in LGA4189 packaging will feature a native eight-channel memory controller and PCIe 4.0, with at least eight channel memory on standard configurations.
The original CPU, the 4004, had 16 pins. The first practical CPU, the 8080, brought this up to 40 pins. Intels first 16-bit CPU was the 80286 was available in either a 68 pin or a 100 pin version. Now we are at 4,189 pins. Pretty major growth over almost 50 years.
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