will AMD be extending its SOI to thoroughbred and barton processors after the athlon64 is released???

[dannybin1742]

once amd gets their soi process ironed out, if is not already, does anyone know if they will extend this process to the xp line so that they can use them in laptops? (shouldn't it run alot cooler?) and would it allow the axp core to scale a bit higher at lower vcores?

does anyone know this?

seems to me like it would logical

cause if you switch all the fabs over to soi process (ibm fabs and amd fabs), then amd would be able, theoretically to increase the clock rate of their soon to be mid range processors (xp line and barton) and low end (duron), I say soon to be because A64 will be the high end and barton upper mid range, and thoroughbred mid range, and duron, low range.

doesn't this sound reasonable or at least logical?

 

[Swanny]

It might help them reduce cost to produce everything on the same process. But that would be the only reason. I see them taking Athlon 64 more to the low end than Athlon XP to the high end.

 

[dannybin1742]

I see them taking Athlon 64 more to the low end than Athlon XP to the high end.

um i think you have that backwards

 

[JSSheridan]

And a follow up question not meant to steal the thread. Is there any word on how long the Barton CPU's will be produced after the Athlon 64 is released? Thanks. Peace.

 

[MDE]

It'll be a while, I wouldn't worry about a shortage anytime soon. Look how long ago the 1700 was officailly discontinued and you can still find those pretty easily.

 

[redhatlinux]

The 'rumour mill' seems to indicate that the XP line will be replaced with A64's that are factory locked in 32-bit mode. This would make all CPU's except the new Duron on the SOI process.

Its possible that AMD will 'job out' the Durons, I seem to recall they had an agreement with 'UMC' ?? to manufactur for them.

 

[Wingznut]

I highly doubt that AMD would use SOI on their current lineup. It would require a complete redesign of the cpu, and that would be pointless on a process that is at the end of its life.

Hammer (in one form or another) will eventually be AMD's contribution in all market segments.

 

[Jeff7181]

I was pretty sure I read somewhere that they would be switching over to SOI for every processor... and that they intended to keep the AthlonXP line around as their value chip. But that was a while ago, so maybe the "Athlon XP" name won't be used anymore... maybe there will just be "Duron 64's" or something like that. I can't find that article anymore though, so I can't show you =)

 

[Wingznut]

Using SOI wafers is a huge challenge... Just look at how many times that Hammer has been delayed. Now I'm not saying that all of the delays were directly due to difficulties with SOI, but I have no doubt that much of the time spent was with the need to increase yields and bin splits due to SOI issues.

 

[KF]

What Wingznut says.

If you look around the Internet, you see that SOI is not new, so the extensively difficult production is well known, and no breakthroughs are expected. And you need a completely different die design, not a facelift. You cannot realistically expect AMD to dump huge sums of cash into something that is bound to bring so low a market price.

What is new is attempting to use SOI to produce at low cost and make bleeding edge complex chips.

Expect SOI to be used only in CPUs that sell for higher prices for quite some time.

I think disabling 64bits on the new Athlons makes no sense. First, AMD wants 64bitness as widely available as possible so developers will develop for it. If every household had a 64 bit CPU, that would suit AMD. So disabling would just be a bad strategy. If they can't leave out something from the die, and save costs due to a smaller die, they aren't going to just disable 64 bit. If the dies were already dirt cheap, disabling functionality for marketing purposes might make sense.
Second, even in present CPUs from both Intel and AMD, pathways are aready 64 bit (or more). I don't think you can save much by removing some things from the new Athlon dies that would make 64 bit non-functional.

If the yields were disasterously low, you could somewhat mitigate the disaster until things got better, by selling reduced function chips as another model. I really don't think this is a reasonable business plan, although it could cut loses. Just because production is very low does not mean you can get so high a price (due to the shortage) that it will end up being profitable. Intel's excellent chips put a limit on the price.

 

[redhatlinux]

Nothing will be removed, the A64's will just be locked in 32-bit mode. I'm sure there will be benefits to just using 1 process. The same mobo will accept either CPU. Yeah, its kind of a strange marketing strategy but its done with lots of products. If you have excess capacity and 'flood' the market, prices will drop for ALL your shipments.

 

[JeremiahTheGreat]

This whole 32bit locked business i think was fabricated from one of the most reliable sources, no less than the inquirer!