IBM and partners including AMD first to 22nm

[piesquared]

IBM and AMD first at 22 nm, challenge Intel’s manufacturing lead

And:

IBM said that it is on track with its 32 nm process and promises that it will use a “leading 32 nm high-K metal gate technology that no other company or consortium can match.”

 

[cjl]

We'll just have to see - it is definitely an interesting development though. I hope that they are first to 22nm - AMD really needs that kind of a boost. Plus, faster stuff sooner is never a bad thing

 

[terror112]

Nice I hope this comes out soon... If Phenom can at least reach 3+ ghz at less than 100 watts on that technology, they could be competetive again.

 

[cjl]

Phenom should reach 3GHz at 100W or less on 45nm without too much difficulty - I'd expect a hell of a lot more than just that on 22nm (considering how far out it is).

Or, to put it another way, AMD is still at 65nm. 22nm is 3 die shrinks away.
1) 45nm
2) 32nm
3) 22nm

I'd hope they'd have a bit more than a 3GHz phenom at 100W by then.

 

[spud]

IBM and AMD first at 22 nm, challenge Intel’s manufacturing lead

And:

IBM said that it is on track with its 32 nm process and promises that it will use a “leading 32 nm high-K metal gate technology that no other company or consortium can match.”

They said that for 45nm 65nm 90nm and I do beleive 130nm, now dont get me wrong it be cool if they gave Intel a run for their money on nodes but they havent got 45nm rolled out yet.

Word, Playa.

 

[piesquared]

They said that for 45nm 65nm 90nm and I do beleive 130nm, now dont get me wrong it be cool if they gave Intel a run for their money on nodes but they havent got 45nm rolled out yet.

Word, Playa.

Are you sure about that?
And i'm curious when Intel will announce 22nm SRAM. Didn't they announce 32nm SRAM less than a year ago? 22nm cells at this stage is a very substantial milestone, and 22nm is believed to be at the limit of CMOS scaliing.

 

[terror112]

They should just skip a node.. look what it has done for ATI with the recent 3xxx and 4xxx seiries. So instead of going for 45nm they should consentrate their resources (whatever they have left lol) on 32nm technology, seeing as how intel is close to developing it. Plus, I don't want to see what nehalem err.. Core i7 running on 32nm would do to AMD.

 

[cjl]

Are you sure about that?
And i'm curious when Intel will announce 22nm SRAM. Didn't they announce 32nm SRAM less than a year ago? 22nm cells at this stage is a very substantial milestone, and 22nm is believed to be at the limit of CMOS scaliing.

Yep - Intel announced 32nm SRAM on Sept. 18, 2007.

 

[piesquared]

Yep - Intel announced 32nm SRAM on Sept. 18, 2007.

Thanks, that's what I thought. So I dont't think we can expect a 22nm announcement any time soon. Never know though.

 

[Wisecracker]

They should just skip a node.. look what it has done for ATI with the recent 3xxx and 4xxx seiries. So instead of going for 45nm they should consentrate their resources (whatever they have left lol) on 32nm technology, seeing as how intel is close to developing it. Plus, I don't want to see what nehalem err.. Core i7 running on 32nm would do to AMD.

Way too late for that ...

they would have to skip 32nm for 22nm (and it may well be too late for that).

 

[Malovane]

Nice I hope this comes out soon... If Phenom can at least reach 3+ ghz at less than 100 watts on that technology, they could be competetive again.

Well, the first Deneb previews show that core hitting 3.2 ghz fairly easily.... and for less than half the power of it's current Phenom counterparts. Others have been able to push the chip to 4 Ghz. That's with a 10+% boost in speed per clock as well. All this with just a shift to 45nm. 22nm, at less than half that will be a huge leap.

 

[jaguarskx]

IBM and AMD first at 22 nm, challenge Intel’s manufacturing lead
[/quote]

Kudos to them...

...as long as they don't screw up like Intel did when they released the first 65nm CPU; Prescott (a.k.a. Pres-HOTT!!!).

 

[terror112]

Well, the first Deneb previews show that core hitting 3.2 ghz fairly easily.... and for less than half the power of it's current Phenom counterparts. Others have been able to push the chip to 4 Ghz. That's with a 10+% boost in speed per clock as well. All this with just a shift to 45nm. 22nm, at less than half that will be a huge leap.

That is very impressive. I think that If AMD can pull Deneb off with high clocks, low power, and a 10% increase in IPC, we may have a winner on our hands! It is all a matter of time when AMD becomes competative again. If AMD can achieve all those things with deneb, I would expect AMD to be able to outsell intel in the mainstream market due to the extremely cheap prices of ddr2 memory.

 

[blackpanther26]

They should just skip a node.. look what it has done for ATI with the recent 3xxx and 4xxx seiries. So instead of going for 45nm they should consentrate their resources (whatever they have left lol) on 32nm technology, seeing as how intel is close to developing it. Plus, I don't want to see what nehalem err.. Core i7 running on 32nm would do to AMD.

don't forget AMD will catch Intel this year in 45nm becuase Intel will not have 32nm until next year.

 

[BadTrip]

Kudos to them...

...as long as they don't screw up like Intel did when they released the first 65nm CPU; Prescott (a.k.a. Pres-HOTT!!!).

Prescott was 90nm.

 

[yomamafor1]

don't forget AMD will catch Intel this year in 45nm becuase Intel will not have 32nm until next year.

Keep in mind that when AMD releases 45nm later this year, it will be built a relatively new, immature 45nm SOI process. It will be later transitioned to another relatively new, immature 45nm HK/MG process. Intel's 45nm will be fully matured by the time Nehalem has launched. When AMD finally hits 45nm HK/MG, Intel is already at 32nm. So in short, no, AMD is still one full year behind Intel in terms of process technology.

 

[jimmysmitty]

One full year behind plus it took 11 companies to put their greatest minds together to get to 32nm yet Intel is at it on their own.

Plus we don't know what Intel is doing and they could have working 22nm SRAM chips just not have announced it yet.

Either way its all good for the industry.

 

[piesquared]

One full year behind plus it took 11 companies to put their greatest minds together to get to 32nm yet Intel is at it on their own.

They wouldn't have it any other way.

Plus we don't know what Intel is doing and they could have working 22nm SRAM chips just not have announced it yet.

True, they very well might have. If they do, I would expect they would announce it at IDF. They absolutely don't want the world thinking they are behind on R&D.

 

[jimmysmitty]

^But you still have to give Intel credit for going so far without any major help and leading the industry for over 20 years.

 

[piesquared]

No doubt about it, they have excellent engineers. As does AMD. It's just that Intel has 10x more of them.

 

[cjl]

Keep in mind that when AMD releases 45nm later this year, it will be built a relatively new, immature 45nm SOI process. It will be later transitioned to another relatively new, immature 45nm HK/MG process. Intel's 45nm will be fully matured by the time Nehalem has launched. When AMD finally hits 45nm HK/MG, Intel is already at 32nm. So in short, no, AMD is still one full year behind Intel in terms of process technology.

I wouldn't even put the maturing of Intel's 45nm in the future tense - I'd say it's pretty much fully matured now, as shown by the across the board 45nm products that are showing up. The Q6600 is really the last remaining 65nm CPU that is still in full production, and with the Q9300 and 9400 dropping in price fast, it won't last long either.

 

[ryman554]

One full year behind plus it took 11 companies to put their greatest minds together to get to 32nm yet Intel is at it on their own.

Plus we don't know what Intel is doing and they could have working 22nm SRAM chips just not have announced it yet.

Either way its all good for the industry.

Read between the lines.

The announcement:

IBM and its joint development partners, AMD, Freescale, STMicroelectronics, Toshiba and the College of Nanoscale Science and Engineering (CNSE), announced the first working static random access memory (SRAM) for the 22nm technology node, the world's first reported working cell built at its 300mm research facility in Albany, NY.

The 32nm SRAM IBM announced last year:

IBM Corp. (Armonk, N.Y.) said today it has developed a test SRAM array using 32 nm high-k/metal gate (HKMG) process technology, an achievement that puts IBM and its Fishkill alliance development partners on track to introduce 32 nm technology in the second half of 2009.

What's the difference between a "cell" and an "array"? Night and day. A "cell" is a research project built in the labs -- this one happens to be at CNSE (a university). An "array" is a full wafer with an SRAM shuttle as the process matures and gears up for production. A "cell" is what's also filling intel's research labs -- you just don't hear about it. A 32nm sram "array" is what D1D has been processing (and perfecting) for the past year as intel readies for Westmere. (the Nehalem tick).

A working cell? An achievement to be sure. But don't for a second think that you're going to be seeing IBM's 22nm come off the production lines in two years time. They're not even out with 45nm yet.

Consider this -- the IBM consortium "beat" intel to the "hi-K, metal gate" announcement/demonstration about a year and a half ago. Remind me again where I can pick up one of IBM's hiK chips?

 

[JAYDEEJOHN]

TSMC is doing 40nm, IBM announces this, people are catching up, thats for sure. The smallest, widest used nodes wont be from Intel next year, itll be TSMCs.

 

[yomamafor1]

Given that 32nm process node has already passed validation at D1D, Intel might hit 32nm before TSMC hits 40nm. But of course, its all speculation without official announcements.

 

[JAYDEEJOHN]

40nm arrives in 1H 09