Intel Makes 22nm 3-D Tri-Gate Tech for Ivy Bridge
Moore's Law continues.
Intel Corporation today announced transistors using a three-dimensional structure will be put into high-volume manufacturing. Intel introduced a revolutionary 3-D transistor design called Tri-Gate, first disclosed by Intel in 2002, into high-volume manufacturing at the 22-nanometer node in Ivy Bridge.
The company qualified 3-D Tri-Gate transistors as a reinvention of the transistor. The traditional "flat" two-dimensional planar gate is replaced with an incredibly thin three-dimensional silicon fin that rises up vertically from the silicon substrate. Control of current is accomplished by implementing a gate on each of the three sides of the fin – two on each side and one across the top – rather than just one on top, as is the case with the 2-D planar transistor. The additional control enables as much transistor current flowing as possible when the transistor is in the "on" state (for performance), and as close to zero as possible when it is in the "off" state (to minimize power), and enables the transistor to switch very quickly between the two states (again, for performance).
Check out this video below for a visual aid.
Since these fins are vertical in nature, transistors can be packed closer together, a critical component to the technological and economic benefits of Moore's Law. Intel also points out that, for future generations, designers also have the ability to continue growing the height of the fins to get even more performance and energy-efficiency gains.
Intel's 3-D Tri-Gate transistors enable chips to operate at lower voltage with lower leakage, providing improved performance and energy efficiency compared to previous state-of-the-art transistors. The capabilities give chip designers the flexibility to choose transistors targeted for low power or high performance, depending on the application.
According to Intel's numbers, the 22nm 3-D Tri-Gate transistors provide up to 37 percent performance increase at low voltage versus Intel's 32nm planar 2-D transistors. Alternatively, the new transistors consume less than half the power when at the same performance as 2-D planar transistors on 32nm chips.
"For years we have seen limits to how small transistors can get," said Intel co-founder Gordon Moore. "This change in the basic structure is a truly revolutionary approach, and one that should allow Moore's Law, and the historic pace of innovation, to continue."
Today, Intel demonstrated the world's first 22nm microprocessor, codenamed "Ivy Bridge," working in a laptop, server and desktop computer. Ivy Bridge-based Core family processors will be the first high-volume chips to use 3-D Tri-Gate transistors. Ivy Bridge is slated for high-volume production readiness by the end of this year.
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Impressive!
Kiss AMD goodbye?
Goodbye AMD, you will be missed.
They couldn't have picked a better representative?
I guess this is the "something revolutionary" Intel was promising for Ivy Bridge. Definitely revolutionary, I'm impressed.
really puts the sting on amd. people were wondering if bulldozer could hold up to sandy bridge, but unless they plan on something huge, it doesn't seem like they will be able to keep up with intel. i guess that means amd fans could maybe look forward to inexpensive pricing.
AMD will just go ARMstrong and leave Intel with the dying x86... Or yeah AMD prolly won't be able to compete with Intel
I have to say I love AMD, but what the hell are they going to do now?
As long as AMD's CPU's can still support the latest games and applications, I'll continue to buy them.
Competition is required for innovation in this market..
I'm glad I decided to wait for Ivy Bridge instead of Sandy Bridge.
To x86 or to ARM is the question. If only I could get a glimpse of the future...
Goodbye AMD, you will be missed.
Kiss AMD goodbye?
Haven't you heard? By the time Ivy Bridge rolls out, AMD will put transistors in four dimensions.
I seriously hope nVidia and AMD are paying attension, imagine this technology on your GFX cards?
As long as AMD's CPU's can still support the latest games and applications, I'll continue to buy them.Competition is required for innovation in this market..
AMD is hardly competitive in the CPU market.
As long as AMD's CPU's can still support the latest games and applications, I'll continue to buy them.Competition is required for innovation in this market..
There isn't competition now(sandy bridge anyone?). Yet innovation is still moving us forward.
Haven't you heard? By the time Ivy Bridge rolls out, AMD will put transistors in four dimensions.
So basically they will control time and space so that a Sempron could outperform any computer, even a supercomputer? Dang, I didn't think amdfangirl would've been right on that, but maybe it's true...
Meh
Grrr I hate posting something only for me to not be logged in and for Toms to lose the post.
Anyway, a 37% increase in transistor performance doesn't necessarily translate to a 37% increase in CPU performance compared to Sandy Bridge. What it should mean is higher clocks and lower power usage, so you can have your cake and eat it too. And I now have a craving for waffles, yum.
I was wondering about stacked memory, and Ivy Bridge should feature that too (if Semi-Accurate is to be believed). Should the memory bus be wide enough, an onboard GPU could be very fast. I'm wondering about AMD's plans with both sorts of technology. It would be naive to think that AMD didn't know about Intel using either of these, but you can't help but wonder how they're going to combat it. The only way Intel could've been more cruel would be to delay this announcement to just prior to the Bulldozer and Llano launches, but it's done now.
Intel and AMD have never failed to impress me.
Congratulations to the army of researchers, engineers and scientists that it took to design these chips. My hat goes off to you.
Production readiness by the end of this year. So I'm thinking late Q1 next year we'll see this? I think I can wait until then...
I wonder how this compares to the new carbon nano technology that was recently announced.
as impressive as this sounds, it just sounds like Intel found a good way to get to 22nm and below, reading the title i thought Intel found a way for a single transistor to act as 3 transistors, but really this only allows for smaller more efficient or faster chips (hard to say for sure the explanation was really kindergarten and really gave no real details), makes it sound like Ivy Bridge is just Sandy Bridge OCed
and for those who think it's a nail in AMD's coffin think again, AMD has nearly always clocked slower then Intel, they make up for it with optimization, which gives the bonus that when they do figure die shrink out they get even more bang
Intel is going so fast, that the latest thing only lasts 3 months now, what a joke. Your going to need 3 different motherboard sockets a year at this rate.
Another reason why AMD could care less about the high end desktop market, it's very small and they are moving in other directions.
AMD getting mounted by Intel is nothing new, but we should keep it in perspective. Bulldozer is inferior in pure performance, but should do well in performance per die size in highly threaded applications. It's better than where they are now. Also, don't underestimate IBM and their own research. They alone make faster microprocessors than Intel. AMD will have access to this technology.
So, while there's no doubt this is an important announcement, it's not the end of the world for AMD. We don't know how easy this will be to make, we don't know what IBM has up its sleave, and we already are in a situation where AMD can't compete in performance, but still is surviving.
And for those of you fanboys that make fun of AMD, your gonna wish to god they were back when you see how much Intel is going to rape you for on a cpu when there is no competition from AMD.
By no competition, I mean in the high end desktop space. AMD is moving toward other markets and gaining huge market shares.
Is it too late for me to copy the patent..?! LOL
I seem to be the only one confused at how the cooling plate, cooling system mounts to these chips. Is it like Legos? Does the plate have microscopic bulges to conform to the chips 3D factor?
well, looks like i'm skipping yet another generation, so long Sandy, Aloha Ivy!
I'm not sure that Intel could operate without AMD being around to compete. They'd have a (complete) monopoly for a start, and what about x86-64? They're still going to need to licence it (and they can't exactly buy AMD out).
AMD isn't going anywhere, but they'll still be manufacturing 32nm CPUs when Intel is already onto 22nm. GloFo needs to step up to the plate.
One thing I want to see is an end to the habit of making hungrier and hungrier CPUs. This new technology could be a big step in the right direction - great performance whilst turning the wick down.
Intel is going so fast, that the latest thing only lasts 3 months now, what a joke. Your going to need 3 different motherboard sockets a year at this rate. Another reason why AMD could care less about the high end desktop market, it's very small and they are moving in other directions.
Very true. But I do hope they continue to push the envelope for high end desktops because it's a blast to upgrade. I left the AMD camp for the first time since my overclocked k6-2 when core2 came out. I rock both AMD and Intel still though PII 955 and core2 duo E6750. I do wonder if Intel will make socket 1155 last longer than the last one. After all Ivy is supposed to be just an die shrink of sandy.