> For example, both x86 and arm date back to the 80s.
Modern x86 and high performance ARM cores are almost unrecognizable compared to processors in the late 90s, much less the 80s. (Also, ARM was founded in 1990, not the 80s).
> While I have no doubt that the implementation of these architectures has improved to reflect modern manufacturing capabilities, this still suggests that there is room for architectural improvements in performance.
There are still performance improvements to be had, but it's not going to be anywhere near the performance scaling of Moore's law. The rate of architectural improvements is also slowing down as well (and increasingly only applicable for a smaller and smaller fraction of workloads).
> I can imagine there beyond other classical devices that can compute certain functions more efficiently than a pure transistor based solution can.
Like...? Quantum is 10+ years away right now and unlikely to get fast any time soon. CMOS has had decades and billions of dollars invested in scaling; it's going to be a long time before any of the current "CMOS killers" (virtually all of which are still transistors) reach parity.
Modern x86 and high performance ARM cores are almost unrecognizable compared to processors in the late 90s, much less the 80s. (Also, ARM was founded in 1990, not the 80s).
> While I have no doubt that the implementation of these architectures has improved to reflect modern manufacturing capabilities, this still suggests that there is room for architectural improvements in performance.
There are still performance improvements to be had, but it's not going to be anywhere near the performance scaling of Moore's law. The rate of architectural improvements is also slowing down as well (and increasingly only applicable for a smaller and smaller fraction of workloads).
> I can imagine there beyond other classical devices that can compute certain functions more efficiently than a pure transistor based solution can.
Like...? Quantum is 10+ years away right now and unlikely to get fast any time soon. CMOS has had decades and billions of dollars invested in scaling; it's going to be a long time before any of the current "CMOS killers" (virtually all of which are still transistors) reach parity.