- Jun 18, 2009
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http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9140453/AMD_graphics_chip_shortage_hitting_PC_vendors
Key Quote: The Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company Ltd. (TSMC) is struggling to get up to speed manufacturing AMD's 5800 series, 40-nm GPUs (graphics processing units), according to Jim McGregor, an analyst at In-Stat. He added that the foundry is in full production but so far yields are below expectation.
Matt Davis, a spokesman for AMD, confirmed to Computerworld that TSMC is having issues in ramping up production of the chips. He added that it's not clear how far behind the foundry is on production expectations.
"The design is sound. It's just a matter of trying to get TSMC to a point where they can yield. They're feeling the manufacturing crunch," said Davis. "We're a little bitter under yield but we're working back into a manufacturing schedule we want for these parts. TSMC can only kick them out so fast at this point."
Davis also said AMD is working with TSMC on the issue and hopes to have production up to speed by year's end.
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I wonder if this is the same problem that Nvidia is/are having with Fermi samples. If 40nm yields are low on AMD's (relatively) smaller 5xxx part, and depending on what the specific issues are, imagine the impact it may be having on Nvidia with their much larger fermi samples.
I wonder if maybe Nvidia was aware of these issues and when planning Fermi production decided that instead of cramming a large chip on a weak yield process, to take the time to do some extra spins and work out the bugs while waiting for profitable yields. I suspect Nvidia needs yeilds to be very solid with the size of their chip to make a decent return.
Key Quote: The Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company Ltd. (TSMC) is struggling to get up to speed manufacturing AMD's 5800 series, 40-nm GPUs (graphics processing units), according to Jim McGregor, an analyst at In-Stat. He added that the foundry is in full production but so far yields are below expectation.
Matt Davis, a spokesman for AMD, confirmed to Computerworld that TSMC is having issues in ramping up production of the chips. He added that it's not clear how far behind the foundry is on production expectations.
"The design is sound. It's just a matter of trying to get TSMC to a point where they can yield. They're feeling the manufacturing crunch," said Davis. "We're a little bitter under yield but we're working back into a manufacturing schedule we want for these parts. TSMC can only kick them out so fast at this point."
Davis also said AMD is working with TSMC on the issue and hopes to have production up to speed by year's end.
*******************************
I wonder if this is the same problem that Nvidia is/are having with Fermi samples. If 40nm yields are low on AMD's (relatively) smaller 5xxx part, and depending on what the specific issues are, imagine the impact it may be having on Nvidia with their much larger fermi samples.
I wonder if maybe Nvidia was aware of these issues and when planning Fermi production decided that instead of cramming a large chip on a weak yield process, to take the time to do some extra spins and work out the bugs while waiting for profitable yields. I suspect Nvidia needs yeilds to be very solid with the size of their chip to make a decent return.
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