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Intel Delays Mass Production of 10nm CPUs to 2019

anandtech.com

1–10 of 17 posts

Re: Intel Delays Mass Production of 10nm CPUs to 2019

#4

Given that TSMC just started high volume production of 7nm chips ( https://www.anandtech.com/show/12677/tsmc-kicks-off-volume-p... ), this sounds bad for Intel.

When intel says 10nm is that the same as TSMCs 10nm, or, is TSMCs 7nm the same as intels 7nm process, or are they describing different processes?

Re: Intel Delays Mass Production of 10nm CPUs to 2019

#5

Given that TSMC just started high volume production of 7nm chips ( https://www.anandtech.com/show/12677/tsmc-kicks-off-volume-p... ), this sounds bad for Intel.

Not really. Intel 14nm is better than TSMC 10nm. The processes are way way way more complicated than can be distilled down into a single number. And the number has become a marketing number. So yeah, Intel 10nm is perhaps somewhat comparable to TSMC 7nm.

But what is "High volume production" really? This is another marketing term! Intel has produced and sold a couple 10nm chips, though they are hard to find. TSMC 7nm chips are not in any consumer's hands yet. We'll have to wait and see ...

Re: Intel Delays Mass Production of 10nm CPUs to 2019

#6
post #4

Given that TSMC just started high volume production of 7nm chips ( https://www.anandtech.com/show/12677/tsmc-kicks-off-volume-p... ), this sounds bad for Intel.

When intel says 10nm is that the same as TSMCs 10nm, or, is TSMCs 7nm the same as intels 7nm process, or are they describing different processes?

They're different processes, and the way Intel describes feature sizes makes their nodes denser then the "equivalent" TSMC node. Probably not 30% denser, though.

Re: Intel Delays Mass Production of 10nm CPUs to 2019

#9
post #4

Given that TSMC just started high volume production of 7nm chips ( https://www.anandtech.com/show/12677/tsmc-kicks-off-volume-p... ), this sounds bad for Intel.

When intel says 10nm is that the same as TSMCs 10nm, or, is TSMCs 7nm the same as intels 7nm process, or are they describing different processes?

Sounds like tsmc has a new customer

Re: Intel Delays Mass Production of 10nm CPUs to 2019

#10

Can someone who understands the manufacturing and engineering difficulties here explain things for a layman? Are we starting to bump up against physical limitations of what’s even possible, or is this something different?

Not sure if Intel has other problems, but there are limits to how small things can get with a particular wavelength of light. DUV (deep ultraviolet) is at 193nm. They've been able to etch significantly smaller than the wavelength by using immersion (water has a higher index of refraction) and some fancy tricks with multiple exposures under different masks (multi-patterning). But all that had to be done because there were no suitable light sources with shorter wavelength. EUV (extreme ultraviolet) has a wavelength of only 13.5nm so a lot of complexity will go away when it comes on line. However EUV still has some challenges ahead and will probably be deployed slowly. Then, shortly after the introduction of EUV, there are other physical limits around 5nm. The lithography end-game is very near.

It's been really amazing to watch this progression for several decades. The end was declared near a number of times but people always found ways to keep going, but I truly believe it's almost over this time.

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