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Isn't one of the limiting factors with putting everything on a single silicon wafer is the massive increase in defects the more surface area you use? Otherwise

Isn't one of the limiting factors with putting everything on a single silicon wafer is the massive increase in defects the more surface area you use? Otherwise you could build an entire supercomputer on those enormous foot-wide wafers Edit: Nevermind, fixing that is the point of the article; I should stop skimming these things

MrEldritch 8y ago
I would recommend R-ing the TFA: >"One solution would be to use standard chip-making techniques to build all 40 GPUs on the same silicon wafer and add interconnects between them. But that’s the philosophy that killed Amdahl’s attempt in the 1980s. There is always the chance of a defect when you’re making a chip, and the likelihood of there being a defect increases with the size of the chip. If your chip is the size of a dinner plate, you’re almost guaranteed to have a system-killing flaw somewhere on it. So it makes more sense to start with normal-sized GPU chips that have already passed quality tests and find a technology to better connect them. The team believes they have that in a technology called silicon interconnect fabric (SiIF). SiIF replaces the circuit board with silicon, so there is no mechanical mismatch between the chip and the board and therefore no need for a chip package."
dragontamer 8y ago
It seems like that's the problem they solved. In effect, the wafer is just an interconnect. The GPUs are manufactured normally, but this technology is basically "just" a wafer-scale interconnect. (Kinda like how Vega chips from AMD have a silicon interposer to connect the HBM2 dies with the GPU. Except this interconnect is a whole freaking wafer.) The problem they now have is the heat that is emitted from such a beastly contraption. > Edit: Nevermind, fixing that is the point of the article; I should stop skimming these things The only reason why I'm in a better boat than you is because I had followed a discussion over at Reddit on this very story already. Mistakes when reading articles are pretty common, and don't worry about it. Anyone who gives you much trouble over that is just asking for Karma to smite them. Most of us are here to help each other understand the story.
- cr0sh 8y ago
  > The GPUs are manufactured normally, but this technology is basically "just" a wafer-scale interconnect. I wonder if this is something like Intel's Foveros 3D chip stacking, where the wafer is treated more like a "PCB" (with the traces and such for signals/power) to the CPU chips bonded on top? Basically, a "PCB" made from silicon, where the components mounted on it are also bare CPU dies?

MrEldritch 8y ago

I would recommend R-ing the TFA: >"One solution would be to use standard chip-making techniques to build all 40 GPUs on the same silicon wafer and add interconnects between them. But that’s the philosophy that killed Amdahl’s attempt in the 1980s. There is always the chance of a defect when you’re making a chip, and the likelihood of there being a defect increases with the size of the chip. If your chip is the size of a dinner plate, you’re almost guaranteed to have a system-killing flaw somewhere on it. So it makes more sense to start with normal-sized GPU chips that have already passed quality tests and find a technology to better connect them. The team believes they have that in a technology called silicon interconnect fabric (SiIF). SiIF replaces the circuit board with silicon, so there is no mechanical mismatch between the chip and the board and therefore no need for a chip package."

dragontamer 8y ago

It seems like that's the problem they solved. In effect, the wafer is just an interconnect. The GPUs are manufactured normally, but this technology is basically "just" a wafer-scale interconnect. (Kinda like how Vega chips from AMD have a silicon interposer to connect the HBM2 dies with the GPU. Except this interconnect is a whole freaking wafer.) The problem they now have is the heat that is emitted from such a beastly contraption. > Edit: Nevermind, fixing that is the point of the article; I should stop skimming these things The only reason why I'm in a better boat than you is because I had followed a discussion over at Reddit on this very story already. Mistakes when reading articles are pretty common, and don't worry about it. Anyone who gives you much trouble over that is just asking for Karma to smite them. Most of us are here to help each other understand the story.

cr0sh 8y ago
> The GPUs are manufactured normally, but this technology is basically "just" a wafer-scale interconnect. I wonder if this is something like Intel's Foveros 3D chip stacking, where the wafer is treated more like a "PCB" (with the traces and such for signals/power) to the CPU chips bonded on top? Basically, a "PCB" made from silicon, where the components mounted on it are also bare CPU dies?