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I'm no expert, but isn't there another technique in play as well? As you get smaller you can duplicate CPU components to make your chip fabrication more robust

I'm no expert, but isn't there another technique in play as well? As you get smaller you can duplicate CPU components to make your chip fabrication more robust against errors. If a component is faulty on the die, the CPU can be patched to use the other (identical) component.

Animats 11y ago
The Cell did that. They really had 9 Cell processors on the chip, but only 8 of them were enabled on any given PS3. Patching at a lower level has been tried, but it's usually more trouble in manufacturing than it's worth. There's a long history of workarounds for low yield, but the fab industry has usually been able to fix the fab problems and get the yield up. Except for memory devices, where patching out bad columns is standard.
- daemin 11y ago
  You're off by 1 there, there were 8 SPU's on a Cell chip, 1 was disabled to account for manufacturing defects, and another was reserved for exclusive use of the O. Leaving the developer with 6 SPU's to use.
  - monocasa 11y ago
    I think he's including the PPE in his count of 9 processors.
bravo22 11y ago
That only works for things like on-board SRAM
monocasa 11y ago
This is done in quite a few places including GPUs.
TheLoneWolfling 11y ago
Unfortunately, you end up having to make the interconnects longer to accommodate the additional redundant components, which ends up slowing everything down. It's a tradeoff that's not always worth it.