11–20 of 82 posts
What is the benefit of smaller transistors? Serious question. Why does it matter if I have 7nm vs. 5nm vs. anything else?
What is the benefit of smaller transistors? Serious question. Why does it matter if I have 7nm vs. 5nm vs. anything else?
What is the benefit of smaller transistors? Serious question. Why does it matter if I have 7nm vs. 5nm vs. anything else?
If you CPU is 100mm across, the speed of light limits it to 3GHz because that's how many times you can cross the cpu travelling at c. At 10mm you get 30GHz.
What is the benefit of smaller transistors? Serious question. Why does it matter if I have 7nm vs. 5nm vs. anything else?
Smaller devices use less power so less heat and longer battery life.
Smaller devices mean a smaller chip which is cheaper (although mask costs will be more expensive) or use the extra area for more features like more cache or another processor core.
What is the benefit of smaller transistors? Serious question. Why does it matter if I have 7nm vs. 5nm vs. anything else?
Smaller means closer together. Closer together means less time for a signal to move from one to another. Less time means higher clock speeds. If you CPU is 100mm across, the speed of light limits it to 3GHz because that's how many times you can cross the cpu travelling at c. At 10mm you get 30GHz.
100mm across is 10cm, 0.1m, 4 inches. That’s palm-sized CPU - far from any modern silicon.
Silicon atoms are about 0.13nm apart. 2nm is about 15 atoms wide. Mass producing anything on that scale is an exceptional feat.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Smaller means closer together. Closer together means less time for a signal to move from one to another. Less time means higher clock speeds. If you CPU is 100mm across, the speed of light limits it to 3GHz because that's how many times you can cross the cpu travelling at c. At 10mm you get 30GHz.
> If you CPU is 100mm across, the speed of light limits it to 3GHz because that's how many times you can cross the cpu travelling at c. At 10mm you get 30GHz. 100mm across is 10cm, 0.1m, 4 inches. That’s palm-sized CPU - far from any modern silicon.
Theres always this trade off between complexity and speed. Making the components smaller means you can have both!
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Would you mind explaining how the production becomes more hazardous?
I think parent might have confused Germanium with Cadmium? I am no chemist. It could also require other more toxic substances to control reactions or act a carrier. The whole area around Sunnyvale is littered with toxic waste dumps from semiconductor manufacturing. [1] From [2], it says, "Some reactive intermediate compounds of germanium are poisonous", when then references [3] but I can't find the specific citation.…
Makes me wonder how this is dealt with in Taiwan.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Smaller means closer together. Closer together means less time for a signal to move from one to another. Less time means higher clock speeds. If you CPU is 100mm across, the speed of light limits it to 3GHz because that's how many times you can cross the cpu travelling at c. At 10mm you get 30GHz.
> If you CPU is 100mm across, the speed of light limits it to 3GHz because that's how many times you can cross the cpu travelling at c. At 10mm you get 30GHz. 100mm across is 10cm, 0.1m, 4 inches. That’s palm-sized CPU - far from any modern silicon.