Production cycle of a graphics card

[PlasmaBomb]

Hi, I'm trying to get a bit more information on the development cycle of a graphics card, does anyone know any good sources or can they shed some light?

Specifically ATI/AMD graphics and tape outs/spins of chips -

RV670, ATI's first 55 nanometre chip turns out to be better than anyone inside ATI expected. ATI planned to have the chip ready in very early Q1 next year but for the first time in ATI's history the A11 silicon doesn't need a re-spin

I thought that the first design of a chip would have been A0? or does graphics go through several designs before even getting taped out and silicone produced.

The barcelonas AMD demoed earlier were A1 silicon weren't they?

*posting here to keep dailytech from getting even more cluttered 😀

 

[undeclared]

My hope: AMD-ATI beats, or matches Intel & Nvidia performance..

I'm talking next gen cpus and gpus.

I just want balance, aka I don't want either company to get too confident as not to give us new tech consistently.

 

[imported_Truenofan]

where did you get that information? that would be very good for amd/ati.

 

[Bateluer]

ATI's spin numbers are strange. I seriously doubt the RV670 has had 11 respins.

 

[MetaDFF]

The best way to know the chip design cycle is to get a degree in electrical engineering and work in one of those companies 😀

On a more serious note, I have first hand experience with this, and A11 is in fact the first spin (revision) of the chip.

After tape-out, typically, chips go through several fabrication revisions before they end up as a final product. Even then, additional revisions may be made to improve performance and yield. The spins are used to correct hardware bugs and timing problems.

Chips can have metal and base spins. Most of the revisions are done in metal spins as it is less expensive to redo the metalization layers compared to redoing the base layer. Only when there is a critical bug that cannot be fixed in the metalization layer is a base spin done.

Different companies have different conventions for labeling their spins.

 

[PlasmaBomb]

Cheers MetaDFF.

I'm not an EE and it's unlikely I will end up working for any of the companies. So have you any other information you could share?

PM me if you want ;D

 

[BernardP]

OP info comes from Fudzilla.com:

http://www.fudzilla.com/index....=view&id=3217&Itemid=1

Go there for even more up-to-date news/rumors about RV670