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Intel Stockpiling 10nm Chips
21–30 of 131 posts
Re: Intel Stockpiling 10nm Chips
#22Earlier quoted context omitted.
It's not so the partner can test/validate the cpu, it's so the partners can test/validate their designs using the cpu. i.e. It's hard to test/validate a laptop design if no CPUs exist that work with it.
But why build a laptop with that CPU if there’s none of it available?
Thermal validation. It is easier to test in a laptop as it has a limited thermal flux.
Re: Intel Stockpiling 10nm Chips
#23What are Intel and other semiconductors planning to pivot to when they can no longer reduce process size at a reasonable pace (i.e. now)? Is there a plan, or is it an existential wall?
My first thought is that they should increase the number of cores in a CPU as much as possible. Having a single CPU with hundreds of cores would be really useful. Of course, they also have to make advances on cooling technology. The types of applications that I have in mind are rendering, AI, and gaming. The types of games that would benefit greatly from such CPU are the ones that make heavy use of a Physics Engine.
I actually think along similar lines but at a higher level of abstraction. I think we'll have to start moving towards multiple complete computer systems, each with their own internal busses, memory, etc., that operate as a unified whole. A bit like massively parallel systems do.
Re: Intel Stockpiling 10nm Chips
#24Intel is very likely to miss holidays with 10nm.
OEM manufacturers in South China, are screaming murder, and even ones who were Intel shops for decades like Weibu are jumping the ship. Intel is losing China big time.
I'd say, a lot would've been fine even if Intel gave them existing 14nm chips, but since all 14nm capacity is gobbled by server chips, it's not gonna happen.
I believe Intel is making a huge error by prioritising big wholesale Xeon buyers like Amazon over OEM manufacturers. Hosting providers will be back the moment Intel regains the tech lead or finally makes 10nm Xeons, but OEMs will walk away and not return.
Re: Intel Stockpiling 10nm Chips
#25What are Intel and other semiconductors planning to pivot to when they can no longer reduce process size at a reasonable pace (i.e. now)? Is there a plan, or is it an existential wall?
My impression is that they know moore's gravy train is over and they're scrambling to figure out new tricks to allow them to sell a new generation of processors every year. Personally, while I'm a little disappointed that processors 20 years from now might not be 4+ orders of magnitude faster than the one I have now, I wouldn't mind being able to buy a computer and not have to worry about upgrading it for 10 years (I…
> I wouldn't mind being able to buy a computer and not have to worry about upgrading it for 10 years (I think we're pretty close to this point already).
Depending on your needs, we're been there for at least 10 years. I don't expect to have to upgrade (not counting increasing memory or storage as "ugrading") or replace any of the systems I own right now until they're over 10 years old. About half of my current machines are approaching their 10 year anniversary. Two are older than that. None of them need upgrading.
Re: Intel Stockpiling 10nm Chips
#26Earlier quoted context omitted.
It's not so the partner can test/validate the cpu, it's so the partners can test/validate their designs using the cpu. i.e. It's hard to test/validate a laptop design if no CPUs exist that work with it.
But why build a laptop with that CPU if there’s none of it available?
They would be betting that by the time they're ready to go to market, the CPUs to support it will exist.
Re: Intel Stockpiling 10nm Chips
#27What are Intel and other semiconductors planning to pivot to when they can no longer reduce process size at a reasonable pace (i.e. now)? Is there a plan, or is it an existential wall?
My impression is that they know moore's gravy train is over and they're scrambling to figure out new tricks to allow them to sell a new generation of processors every year. Personally, while I'm a little disappointed that processors 20 years from now might not be 4+ orders of magnitude faster than the one I have now, I wouldn't mind being able to buy a computer and not have to worry about upgrading it for 10 years (I…
In 2010, you could've bought an Intel i7 980X for $1,000 (why would you? B-but still...) with six cores @ 3.33 GHz and easily OCed to 4 GHz.
I think we're a year or two away before beefy, AAA games begin demanding 4 GHz minimum, and new CPUs barely offer over 4 GHz clocks as it is, so... we've already been there!
CPU power's been flatlined, especially when you compare it to GPU power.
Re: Intel Stockpiling 10nm Chips
#28Intel is very likely to miss holidays with 10nm. OEM manufacturers in South China, are screaming murder, and even ones who were Intel shops for decades like Weibu are jumping the ship. Intel is losing China big time. I'd say, a lot would've been fine even if Intel gave them existing 14nm chips, but since all 14nm capacity is gobbled by server chips, it's not gonna happen. I believe Intel is making a huge error by pri…
Two conflicting thoughts on that:
- If the big wholesale Xeon buyers and users qualify AMD chips and start buying a lot of them, Intel will find that landscape a lot more competitive, this is a more "sticky" market than OEM products for consumers.
- They could be betting that AMD will lose the plot again, as they've done throughout their corporate history, e.g. after the 486, and after K8. The OEM consumer market is less sticky and will trivially move back to Intel if they have competitive offerings.
Re: Intel Stockpiling 10nm Chips
#29What are Intel and other semiconductors planning to pivot to when they can no longer reduce process size at a reasonable pace (i.e. now)? Is there a plan, or is it an existential wall?
My impression is that they know moore's gravy train is over and they're scrambling to figure out new tricks to allow them to sell a new generation of processors every year. Personally, while I'm a little disappointed that processors 20 years from now might not be 4+ orders of magnitude faster than the one I have now, I wouldn't mind being able to buy a computer and not have to worry about upgrading it for 10 years (I…
> not have to worry about upgrading it for 10 years (I think we're pretty close to this point already
I think we're already there. Ivy Bridge machines from 2012 can still get the job done today if paired with a solid complement of RAM and an SSD.
Graphics is really the only area where those older machines are starting to be a limfac, as their inability to drive the latest 4K+ displays is starting to be more of an issue for normal people.
Re: Intel Stockpiling 10nm Chips
#30What are Intel and other semiconductors planning to pivot to when they can no longer reduce process size at a reasonable pace (i.e. now)? Is there a plan, or is it an existential wall?
It seems like they plan to shift to novel hybrid architectures, at least if things like Intel owning Altera mean anything. I'd expect them to be doing things like putting neural network accelerators down and the like. Or everyone has to make a dramatic leap to a new underlying computing physics, like the quantum dot transistor or the vacuum transistor [1] that lets them increase frequency or lower power consumption.…
What? No. As far as computing goes, the digital abstraction still and will always hold unless we start doing analog computations like were done with analog computers from the 1940's to about the 1960's (in the West, they lasted longer in Russia due to their inability to compete in Silicon).
A vacuum transistor, used as a switch, is still a switch.