- Feb 11, 2011
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So we're all excited for Ivy and it's 22nm transistors, I know.
But what I'm left wondering is why do Foundries even bother shrinking a transistor down to a set size, every year or two? Would it not be more logical to go to a much smaller size and be ahead of the competition? Like say instead of 32nm, go 25nm. Or instead of 22, why not go 10? Besides, from a cost standpoint, the die-shrink doesn't seem to make alot of sense. So what if it's smaller. Whatever cost savings there may be are outweighed by the expense of R&D, and new Machines or converting the existing one's for smaller transistor size. What? You save on sand? How much? Not enough I'm guessing. Is'nt every transistor made from an individual grain?
P.S. Die sizes don't matter to the end user that much. Unless they're super-anal/OCD-ish about it.
And don't tell me about thermals and performance. When we went from 65nm Core 2 to 45nm Core 2, the power envelope stayed the same. Performance was nearly identical, and Clocks barely budged higher. Core 2 45nm was not a new architecture, Like Nehelam was. Case in point: the Q6700 and the Q8400. Identical clocks. Thermal difference was only 10 watts. I thought going from 65 to 45 would've been atleast a 50% power shrink.
65^3= 274,625
45^3 = 91,125
274,625 - 91,125 = 183,500. So it should've been a 66% power shrink if die size remained the same. What happened?
I'm not into the Foundry business so please don't confuse my ignorance for stupidity. I just want an... answer
But what I'm left wondering is why do Foundries even bother shrinking a transistor down to a set size, every year or two? Would it not be more logical to go to a much smaller size and be ahead of the competition? Like say instead of 32nm, go 25nm. Or instead of 22, why not go 10? Besides, from a cost standpoint, the die-shrink doesn't seem to make alot of sense. So what if it's smaller. Whatever cost savings there may be are outweighed by the expense of R&D, and new Machines or converting the existing one's for smaller transistor size. What? You save on sand? How much? Not enough I'm guessing. Is'nt every transistor made from an individual grain?
P.S. Die sizes don't matter to the end user that much. Unless they're super-anal/OCD-ish about it.
And don't tell me about thermals and performance. When we went from 65nm Core 2 to 45nm Core 2, the power envelope stayed the same. Performance was nearly identical, and Clocks barely budged higher. Core 2 45nm was not a new architecture, Like Nehelam was. Case in point: the Q6700 and the Q8400. Identical clocks. Thermal difference was only 10 watts. I thought going from 65 to 45 would've been atleast a 50% power shrink.
65^3= 274,625
45^3 = 91,125
274,625 - 91,125 = 183,500. So it should've been a 66% power shrink if die size remained the same. What happened?
I'm not into the Foundry business so please don't confuse my ignorance for stupidity. I just want an... answer