3 ms·
I’d like to see an M2 made out of wire wrap! How big would it be?! How fast could it be clocked? How much would it weigh? How much power would it draw?! Inquir
by doctor_eval 4y ago
I’d like to see an M2 made out of wire wrap! How big would it be?! How fast could it be clocked? How much would it weigh? How much power would it draw?!
Inquiring (and lazy) minds want to know.
- RustLove 4y agoThis wasn't entirely out of discrete components; they had PALs, presumably representing fairly large sections of the processor's internal subsections.
- YakBizzarro 4y agoThe modern equivalent is simulation on a series of big FPGA, probably this one https://www.xilinx.com/products/silicon-devices/fpga/virtex-ultrascale-plus-vu19p.html#tabAnchor-productAdvantages https://www.xilinx.com/products/silicon-devices/fpga/virtex-...
- andy_ppp 4y agoPresumably they don’t create the hardware in FPGA and just simulate the thing in software?
- an-unknown 4y agoSimulation in software is much slower than running the design in FPGAs.
- pjc50 4y agoM2 is 20 billion transistors. You'll get different answers depending on whether you're doing this as transistors or 74 series logic or whatever, but if we take discrete transistors and jam them in at 4 per square centimeter, that works out as 5bn cm^2 or half a square kilometer. Frequency will then be limited by propagation delay across a square of that size. Maybe a few hundred kilohertz? Power .. megawatts? There's going to be a visible heat haze shimmering over your half square kilometer of transistors.
- doctor_eval 4y agoThat is a fantastic image. Thanks!