4 ms·

At some point, the feature size stopped being a measurement of any specific feature on the IC, and just a generalized metric. But ya, I mean if you forced them

At some point, the feature size stopped being a measurement of any specific feature on the IC, and just a generalized metric. But ya, I mean if you forced them to, their engineers could probably produce the formula that mixes together a bunch of actual physical feature sizes, and explain why 3nm is not a lie - but its very much a marketing thing. One obvious hint at this is how the different manufacturer's 'x' nm nodes have obviously different performances.

ryandrake 9y ago
I'm reminded of the days of CDROM speeds, when at one point, 2X, 3X, 4X, etc. described an actual multiple of the baseline 150 KB/sec performance. Eventually, the number started measuring only the peak theoretical speed of reads from the outer edge of the disc. It ceased to be a meaning comparative measurement and pretty much became a version number.
- inetknght 9y ago
  the fun ones were the 54x hardware that would explode the disks!
  - KGIII 9y ago
    It's a bit more complicated than that. http://blog.cdrom2go.com/2011/02/can-a-cd-rom-disc-explode-in-a-drive/ http://blog.cdrom2go.com/2011/02/can-a-cd-rom-disc-explode-i... You can do it, but it takes some effort. CDs don't typically suffer structural failure at normal operation speeds...
    - mickronome 9y ago
      A neighbor of mine actually had a disc explode in his drive. I couldn't believe it at first, but sure enough, the drive sounded like a maraca when I shook it.
      - snuxoll 9y ago
        My Diablo II disk shattered in my mothers PC when I was in the 7th grade, we were both rather upset (me because I lost my game disc in the era they were still used for anti-piracy, her because she needed to buy a new CD drive).
        Dylan16807 9y ago
        What happened to the drive mechanism? I've had a (previously damaged) CD explode and I just had to pour the pieces out.
      - KGIII 9y ago
        Oh, it has happened but it's very much an anomaly.
  - theandrewbailey 9y ago
    I still have a 52x drive in an old PC. It will always take about 5 seconds to spin to max (sounding like a jet takeoff), even if a single sector needs to be read from it.
- gruturo 9y ago
  That was for a completely different reason. CDs had Constant Linear Velocity (CLV). This means the disc would spin lower when the head was on other tracks, and faster on inner tracks, so that the same amount of data would pass under the head every second. This was a-OK until 8x or 16x and became really insanely pointless around 24x - with the disc being vigorously accelerated and brakes as the head moved from region to region. At some point some manufacturer rightly decided “to hell with this idiocy” and made a CAV unit - Constant Angular Velocity - the disc would spin at Always the same rate, and if this means outer tracks read faster than inner ones, well, who cares. The whole industry soon followed - there was no point in staying CLV.

ryandrake 9y ago

I'm reminded of the days of CDROM speeds, when at one point, 2X, 3X, 4X, etc. described an actual multiple of the baseline 150 KB/sec performance. Eventually, the number started measuring only the peak theoretical speed of reads from the outer edge of the disc. It ceased to be a meaning comparative measurement and pretty much became a version number.

inetknght 9y ago
the fun ones were the 54x hardware that would explode the disks!
- KGIII 9y ago
  It's a bit more complicated than that. http://blog.cdrom2go.com/2011/02/can-a-cd-rom-disc-explode-in-a-drive/ http://blog.cdrom2go.com/2011/02/can-a-cd-rom-disc-explode-i... You can do it, but it takes some effort. CDs don't typically suffer structural failure at normal operation speeds...
  - mickronome 9y ago
    A neighbor of mine actually had a disc explode in his drive. I couldn't believe it at first, but sure enough, the drive sounded like a maraca when I shook it.
    - snuxoll 9y ago
      My Diablo II disk shattered in my mothers PC when I was in the 7th grade, we were both rather upset (me because I lost my game disc in the era they were still used for anti-piracy, her because she needed to buy a new CD drive).
      - Dylan16807 9y ago
        What happened to the drive mechanism? I've had a (previously damaged) CD explode and I just had to pour the pieces out.
    - KGIII 9y ago
      Oh, it has happened but it's very much an anomaly.
- theandrewbailey 9y ago
  I still have a 52x drive in an old PC. It will always take about 5 seconds to spin to max (sounding like a jet takeoff), even if a single sector needs to be read from it.
gruturo 9y ago
That was for a completely different reason. CDs had Constant Linear Velocity (CLV). This means the disc would spin lower when the head was on other tracks, and faster on inner tracks, so that the same amount of data would pass under the head every second. This was a-OK until 8x or 16x and became really insanely pointless around 24x - with the disc being vigorously accelerated and brakes as the head moved from region to region. At some point some manufacturer rightly decided “to hell with this idiocy” and made a CAV unit - Constant Angular Velocity - the disc would spin at Always the same rate, and if this means outer tracks read faster than inner ones, well, who cares. The whole industry soon followed - there was no point in staying CLV.