4 ms·

"AMD is fabless" Which also means they can jump to whatever the current hot stuff is in the fab world, letting the big fabs (which are few in number, but still

"AMD is fabless" Which also means they can jump to whatever the current hot stuff is in the fab world, letting the big fabs (which are few in number, but still >1) compete on technical merits. Where Intel has a corporate need to use whatever fabs they've invested in, and to be anchored by whatever the limitation of their fabs are. They aren't really limited by that -- they could just get TSMC to make some stuff for them or something --- but they're Intel so they'll just make 10+++++++

rubbingalcohol 7y ago
Don't you mean 14++++++? They still can barely get 10nm working in laptops, much less desktop or servers. By the time they do, AMD will be far ahead of them process-wise.
Nokinside 7y ago
They don't jump. Usually make long term deals for each process and design their microarchitecture for that process. AMD moved all 7nm CPU, GPU production to TSMC and they are tied to them for the duration of 7nm. The question is if they can get all the capacity they need for price they can afford. It seems like high margin customers like Apple and Nvidia are always served first because they can pay more.
- deleted 7y ago
  [deleted]
selectodude 7y ago
Intel, Samsung and TSMC are the only three companies that are committed to EUV. Intel is out, which leaves Samsung and TSMC. So I guess the >1 = 2.
- dragontamer 7y ago
  The I/O die is rumored to be GlobalFoundries. AMD's Ryzen 9 3900x and 3950x is a chiplet design: there are 2x TSMC 7nm dies tied to a 1x GloFo 14nm I/O die. See the picture: https://images.anandtech.com/doci/14605/Ryzen9_3800X_Hand_575px_678x452.jpg https://images.anandtech.com/doci/14605/Ryzen9_3800X_Hand_57... In effect, AMD spends very little money and die-area on expensive 7nm process, while leveraging their GloFo 14nm contracts to cheaply make I/O and memory controllers. ---------- The 7nm chiplet is a single design: mass produced for EPYC, Threadripper, and Ryzen. The 14nm I/O die is what differentiates between EPYC, Threadripper, and Ryzen. The I/O die can have 2x memory controllers (Ryzen), 4x memory controllers (Threadripper), or 8x memory controllers (EPYC)... supporting 2x dies, 4x dies, or 8x dies as appropriate.
  - kllrnohj 7y ago
    > The I/O die is rumored to be GlobalFoundries It's not really "rumored" to be so much as it is actually. The I/O dies are built at GlobalFoundries. The Epyc's larger I/O die is on GF's 14nm, and the consumer Ryzen I/O dies are GF's 12nm. https://www.anandtech.com/show/14525/amd-zen-2-microarchitecture-analysis-ryzen-3000-and-epyc-rome https://www.anandtech.com/show/14525/amd-zen-2-microarchitec...

rubbingalcohol 7y ago

Don't you mean 14++++++? They still can barely get 10nm working in laptops, much less desktop or servers. By the time they do, AMD will be far ahead of them process-wise.

Nokinside 7y ago

They don't jump. Usually make long term deals for each process and design their microarchitecture for that process. AMD moved all 7nm CPU, GPU production to TSMC and they are tied to them for the duration of 7nm. The question is if they can get all the capacity they need for price they can afford. It seems like high margin customers like Apple and Nvidia are always served first because they can pay more.

deleted 7y ago
[deleted]

selectodude 7y ago

Intel, Samsung and TSMC are the only three companies that are committed to EUV. Intel is out, which leaves Samsung and TSMC. So I guess the >1 = 2.

dragontamer 7y ago
The I/O die is rumored to be GlobalFoundries. AMD's Ryzen 9 3900x and 3950x is a chiplet design: there are 2x TSMC 7nm dies tied to a 1x GloFo 14nm I/O die. See the picture: https://images.anandtech.com/doci/14605/Ryzen9_3800X_Hand_575px_678x452.jpg https://images.anandtech.com/doci/14605/Ryzen9_3800X_Hand_57... In effect, AMD spends very little money and die-area on expensive 7nm process, while leveraging their GloFo 14nm contracts to cheaply make I/O and memory controllers. ---------- The 7nm chiplet is a single design: mass produced for EPYC, Threadripper, and Ryzen. The 14nm I/O die is what differentiates between EPYC, Threadripper, and Ryzen. The I/O die can have 2x memory controllers (Ryzen), 4x memory controllers (Threadripper), or 8x memory controllers (EPYC)... supporting 2x dies, 4x dies, or 8x dies as appropriate.
- kllrnohj 7y ago
  > The I/O die is rumored to be GlobalFoundries It's not really "rumored" to be so much as it is actually. The I/O dies are built at GlobalFoundries. The Epyc's larger I/O die is on GF's 14nm, and the consumer Ryzen I/O dies are GF's 12nm. https://www.anandtech.com/show/14525/amd-zen-2-microarchitecture-analysis-ryzen-3000-and-epyc-rome https://www.anandtech.com/show/14525/amd-zen-2-microarchitec...