Ken Shirriff @righto.com · Nov 22 Intel's 386 processor (1985) was critical to the success of Intel. With 285,000 transistors, it was too much for Intel's design process and the schedule started slipping. Intel pivoted to "standard cells", an automated technique for chip layout to get back on track. Let's look closer...
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What made it complex was 1) Having all that 286 segmentation crap, even if it finally offered a way to do 32-bit linear addressing and ignore all that segmentation crap. 2) Virtual-86 mode, the breakthrough that it possible to multitask existing unmodified DOS programs!
The previous photo shows the 386 processor under a microscope. I've highlighted the regions that use standard cells and the layout was automated. Simple logic blocks (the "standard cells") are arranged in rows, with wiring between the rows. This creates a distinctive striped pattern.
I didn't realize standard cell was that "young." By 2001 at IBM it was just the "way things were"