Gregory's Server
Here's an X-ray of the 386 package. The pins are bright white. The gray square in the middle is the silicon die. Inside the package, the grayish traces connect the pins to the contacts surrounding the die. Thin bond wires connect these contacts to the die. 2/13
Historically, Intel had been very stingy with pins, using the "God-given 16 pins" for the 4004 processor even though it made the chip slower and harder to use. When Intel was forced to use 18 pins, Federico Faggin said it "was like the sky had dropped from heaven". 3/13