TSMC ups Arizona investment from $12B to $40B with second semi fab • Hacker News Board

Re: TSMC ups Arizona investment from $12B to $40B with second semi fab

#291

Post by j_walter » Fri, Dec 09, 2022, 11:05 PM UTC

totalZero wrote: post #270

j_walter wrote: post #215

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Which indicates the author knows nothing about how semiconductor fabs use power. Power usage is stable with a few percent...and 100MW is really on the low side for this fab. If all 6 phases are completed as they are expected to be...it's more like 250MW.

I think we can forgive the author for the low estimate considering that this project didn't exist publicly at the time of writing. How does power usage remain stable in a fab? Please say more about how that works.

Much of the power is used for keeping air clean with temperature and humidity controlled in a very tight range. More energy is used for water cooling, waste treatment and other facilities. The rest of the power is used for production tools...which when a fab is running are generally consistent users. The power usage will scale with wafer loading, but again advanced fabs like these will run at near 100% capacity for years at a time.

Re: TSMC ups Arizona investment from $12B to $40B with second semi fab

#292

Post by CydeWeys » Sat, Dec 10, 2022, 4:28 AM UTC

totalZero wrote: post #162

CydeWeys wrote: post #126

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Large semiconductor fabs use as much as 100 megawatt-hours of power each hour Ooof, this kind of writing where the author doesn't understand units just gets my goat. Just say it uses 100 MW! Geez.

I prefer it as written, because the additional information of timeframe for measurement indicates that the author is not talking about momentary/peak power.

I'd still much rather see "100 MW continuous" over "100 megawatt-hours of power each hour". And the former actually tells you a lot more than the latter, as with the latter it could be bursty (e.g. much more than 100 MW momentary draw), which would be a lot harder to supply. Fortunately for everyone the power draw is actually steady.

Re: TSMC ups Arizona investment from $12B to $40B with second semi fab

#293

Post by throwntoday » Sat, Dec 10, 2022, 7:55 PM UTC

tony_cannistra wrote: post #192

throwntoday wrote: post #177

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't think you appreciate just how much water the northern part of the continent has.

Actually, I do. I've lived there. Generally speaking, substantial alterations to hydrological regimes can cause deleterious cascading ecological effects. Just look toward the literature on the hydrological (and consequential ecological) effects of dams (necessary to divert water) for examples. One of particular interest is dams' tendency to reduce the frequency and severity of flooding events, which are characteristi…

I only meant that the region which has an abundance of water which largely goes to waste can sell their excess via pipelines to the lower 48 wherever there is a dire need.

Re: TSMC ups Arizona investment from $12B to $40B with second semi fab

#294

Post by _-david-_ » Sat, Dec 10, 2022, 8:25 PM UTC

lifeisstillgood wrote: post #283

_-david-_ wrote: post #207

Earlier quoted context omitted.

MLB isn't a national thing. There are two countries (US and Canada) who have teams.

Honestly I am not sure if that is sarcasm or not :-)

It is not sarcasm. How could something strictly be a US thing when both the US and Canada partake?