AMD confirms first Hammer silicon out
Weren't we just discussing this? I told you so.
Of course, don't get too anxious. First silicon simply means that its working, as in working at 100MHz; the goal of first silicon after having taped out is to get something that will work for testing and validation, not set performance records. Now, all AMD has to do is find the bugs, correct the bugs, validate operation, improve speed, validate the 0.13µ SOI at Dresden, validate MP operation, validate a new package (probably a 700+ pin µPGA...), get motherboard manufacturers to design new boards around the new chipsets (that you have to validate, too), among other things.
Exactly. It's no simple task to validate this type of design and silicon for prime time. Like I said before, AMD is further ahead than just getting the Hammer silicon out there. Validating a design like Hammer with a new technology like SOI (and .13u for that matter) takes more than just a few months. I have been told (by a few guys who work in AMD, Motorola, and Intel fabs) that these types of validation procedures take around 6 months on average, sometimes a great deal more.
Btw KenAF, do you work in a fab or are somehow connected to this industry. You have a lot of juicy knowledge.