TSMC confirms its 3nm node development is "going well"

[HEXUS]

It is already lining up customers for the technology, and plans to extend its "leadership".

Read more.

[Corky34]

Reading between the lines of the PDF it seems Ryzen 4000 series will be using 6nm instead of the 7nm+ or 5nm that was rumored.

[DevDrake]

Impressive, closer than anticipated.

[Tabbykatze]

Reading between the lines of the PDF it seems Ryzen 4000 series will be using 6nm instead of the 7nm+ or 5nm that was rumored.

IIRC it is an easy node transfer as it is relatively the same, like 14nm GF to 12nm GF.

[ToastyPorcupine]

Wow, 3 nm? I was under the impression that we were already approaching physical limits. Did I have that wrong?

[Shane74]

Damn impressive.
Wonder if it will be the last node shrink though?
Can't see them getting much lower, I thought I read years ago they were going to run into problems beyond 5nm.

[Corky34]

Wow, 3 nm? I was under the impression that we were already approaching physical limits. Did I have that wrong?

It's best not to pay much attention to stated node sizes as they pretty much went out the window when everyone transitioned to FinFET, it used to refer to the gate length and the M1 half-pitch but those no longer align and the gate length now bear little relation to the stated node size (Intel's 14nm has a gate length of 20nm and TSCM's 14nm Lg is 30nm).

[Hoonigan]

Meanwhile, Intel are nearing completion of their Triode design.

[preter_s]

Since 6nm is 100 per cent compatibility with 7nm design rules, perhaps the next Zen 2 Renoir APUs can make a leap forward to 6nm!


AMD APUs have always been the runt of the litter (after desktop PC, Threadripper HEDT and Epyc server chips). Instead of the desktop PC market be the sole proving platform for the Zen, Zen+ and Zen 2 platforms, before rollout to the mission critical corporate/enterprise market HEDT and server markets, perhaps AMD can be more ambitious and let the AMD APUs be the low risk proving ground for 6nm - a Zen 2+ of sorts.

That will surely kill off Ice Lake, Tiger Lake or whatever lakes Intel can come up with. It will also quicken the mid-cycle upgrade path for all AMD chiplets! Consumers can then truly rejoice!

[Spreadie]

TSMC confirms its 3nm node development is "going well"

Just wondering what you were expecting them to say.

It was unlikely they'd come out with "well, it turns out 3nm is a bit of a challenge, so we might have to bin this one off and risk our investors pulling their funding."

[kalniel]

Just wondering what you were expecting them to say.

It was unlikely they'd come out with "well, it turns out 3nm is a bit of a challenge, so we might have to bin this one off and risk our investors pulling their funding."

That's exactly what they should say in an investor call if it's true. They can be held accountable if they fail to give warning to investors of things not going well, or if they mislead by saying it's going well when it's not.