Originally posted by: BrunoPuntzJones
Dumb question, but why are the wafer thingys round? It seems like it'd be more efficient just to make it square no?
Originally posted by: JackBurton
Hmmm, is AMD going to lose the price/performance crown too (they already lost the speed crown)? The 2.53GHz P4 is being priced at $243, and the AMD 2600+ is set for $300! Hmmm, Intel looks like they are kicking ass at both ends! AMD better get into the game again, SOON!
Picture a HUGE vat of molten silicon. A "seed" is attached to a cable and dipped into the center of the rotating vat. The silicon cools around the seed and when it gets big enough (200mm or 300mm, depending on the wafer size needed), the seed is raised up with a silicon ingot attached. It pretty much looks like a big sausage.Originally posted by: BrunoPuntzJones
Dumb question, but why are the wafer thingys round? It seems like it'd be more efficient just to make it square no?
Originally posted by: Wingznut PEZ
It is pretty amazing. There are well over 400 steps in creating a cpu. One imperfection and the die is inop. Considering that we print circuits so small that we could fit over 1000 of them in the width of a human hair... Well, that's borders on mind boggling.
Yet another interesting tidbit... Did you know that the wafers are manufactured in a Class 1 cleanroom? "Class 1" = 1 particle (less than .5µ in size) per cubic foot of air. Compare that to 100,000 particles in a hospital, or millions in your average office.
What is a cleanroom?
In the .09µ process, you can fit about 2000 of the most critical circuits in that hair.Originally posted by: bdog231
1000 in the width of a human hair? Seems impossible.
I'm going to have to agree with you on this...............I HOPE it's just some kind of mistake......but not to sure either.......Originally posted by: Athlon4all
Guys, go back to the price page of THG's article Here. Take a very close look at the top picture. The heading under it says "Retail packaging of an AMD Athlon XP 2200+ with an old Thoroughbred "A" core.", but if you look at the CPU in the picture, it is clearly a Palomino XP. The Die is more square than Rectangular, and plus, where's the Power delivery thingies if its a T-Bred? Plus, there aren't any Retail 2200+'s yet, only OEM's. I'm gonna email Frank Voelkel and Tom himself about this. That has got to be just an out right lie, although I pray it was just a mistake