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But, Russia does make their own chips, which they use for things like radar transmitters and radar ASICs. They don't make these commodity grade chips because, w

But, Russia does make their own chips, which they use for things like radar transmitters and radar ASICs. They don't make these commodity grade chips because, well, they're commodities, and their fabs are better used for higher-end/more custom applications. It's true that Russia isn't the USSR. At the same time, it's not the economic backwater people said it is; it's got fairly developed industry.

dragontamer 3y ago
Intel Altera and AMD Xilinx chips are clearly better than the Russian ASICs, as per the article. We can see them stealing our chips and figure out where the Russian capabilities are. STM32 is particularly hilarious to me. I mean, they are good chips but they aren't exactly high tech. STM32 is a thing I expected Russia to be able to produce domestically. But apparently now the cats out of the bag. Clearly the Russian semiconductor industry is in a hilariously bad state.
- sudosysgen 3y ago
  Altera and Xilinx make FPGAs, not ASICs. They are two fundamentally different kinds of chips. Why would Russia invest tens of millions of dollars on making its own series of 5 cent microprocessors when it can just import cheap commodity STM32 chips? There is no point in manufacturing them, it's simply not a smart way of spending money. If you don't believe Russia can fab their own chips, you can just go on eBay and buy an Elbrus system, or something. They can. They have the capability to produce basic chips, and you can buy them. I don't understand why them doing the smart thing and saving hundreds of millions to billions of dollars by not reinventing the wheel and redesigning every category of commodity chip is proof they can't, especially when you can literally go out and buy Russian made chips.
  - dragontamer 3y ago
    > Altera and Xilinx make FPGAs, not ASICs. They are two fundamentally different kinds of chips. But FPGAs can replace ASICs especially with regards to RADAR / signal processing. Its clear that they prefer these Xilinx / Altera chips, because they're bothering to try to black-market import these chips and avoid sanctions. > Why would Russia invest tens of millions of dollars on making its own series of 5 cent microprocessors when it can just import cheap commodity STM32 chips? There is no point in manufacturing them, it's simply not a smart way of spending money. Because we have laws (that should be better enforced) such that Russia isn't supposed to be getting those chips right now. Starve Russia of those chips.
    - sudosysgen 3y ago
      As I've said before, the sanctions are fundamentally unenforceable for commodity chips, and the Russians know this. While FPGAs can replace ASICs for some tasks, that's not true for all of them, and for many it will be worse in the end. But sure, anyways Russia can't go lower than 65nm so it can't make great FPGAs no matter what.

dragontamer 3y ago

Intel Altera and AMD Xilinx chips are clearly better than the Russian ASICs, as per the article. We can see them stealing our chips and figure out where the Russian capabilities are. STM32 is particularly hilarious to me. I mean, they are good chips but they aren't exactly high tech. STM32 is a thing I expected Russia to be able to produce domestically. But apparently now the cats out of the bag. Clearly the Russian semiconductor industry is in a hilariously bad state.

sudosysgen 3y ago
Altera and Xilinx make FPGAs, not ASICs. They are two fundamentally different kinds of chips. Why would Russia invest tens of millions of dollars on making its own series of 5 cent microprocessors when it can just import cheap commodity STM32 chips? There is no point in manufacturing them, it's simply not a smart way of spending money. If you don't believe Russia can fab their own chips, you can just go on eBay and buy an Elbrus system, or something. They can. They have the capability to produce basic chips, and you can buy them. I don't understand why them doing the smart thing and saving hundreds of millions to billions of dollars by not reinventing the wheel and redesigning every category of commodity chip is proof they can't, especially when you can literally go out and buy Russian made chips.
- dragontamer 3y ago
  > Altera and Xilinx make FPGAs, not ASICs. They are two fundamentally different kinds of chips. But FPGAs can replace ASICs especially with regards to RADAR / signal processing. Its clear that they prefer these Xilinx / Altera chips, because they're bothering to try to black-market import these chips and avoid sanctions. > Why would Russia invest tens of millions of dollars on making its own series of 5 cent microprocessors when it can just import cheap commodity STM32 chips? There is no point in manufacturing them, it's simply not a smart way of spending money. Because we have laws (that should be better enforced) such that Russia isn't supposed to be getting those chips right now. Starve Russia of those chips.
  - sudosysgen 3y ago
    As I've said before, the sanctions are fundamentally unenforceable for commodity chips, and the Russians know this. While FPGAs can replace ASICs for some tasks, that's not true for all of them, and for many it will be worse in the end. But sure, anyways Russia can't go lower than 65nm so it can't make great FPGAs no matter what.