where are the new processors?

[broadwayblue]

does anyone know when intel/amd is due to release their next round of processors? it seems like they have been stuck at the 3ghz mark forever now. what's going on?

 

[Sunny129]

they are currently pushing the limits of manufacturing processes on silicon, so both intel and AMD have R&D working on new technologies. word has it intel is experimenting with strained silicon, which will allow the manufacturing process to go even smaller than 90 nanometers and increase clock speeds again. and i don't recall what AMD has in the woodworks, but its called SOL or something. i can't remember what it stands for, but i think its an organic material. i really don't know whaen we'll see next generation CPU's hit shelves though...

 

[sandorski]

Originally posted by: Sunny129
they are currently pushing the limits of manufacturing processes on silicon, so both intel and AMD have R&D working on new technologies. word has it intel is experimenting with strained silicon, which will allow the manufacturing process to go even smaller than 90 nanometers and increase clock speeds again. and i don't recall what AMD has in the woodworks, but its called SOL or something. i can't remember what it stands for, but i think its an organic material. i really don't know whaen we'll see next generation CPU's hit shelves though...

Not SOLD), SOI.

 

[broadwayblue]

Originally posted by: Sunny129
they are currently pushing the limits of manufacturing processes on silicon, so both intel and AMD have R&D working on new technologies. word has it intel is experimenting with strained silicon, which will allow the manufacturing process to go even smaller than 90 nanometers and increase clock speeds again. and i don't recall what AMD has in the woodworks, but its called SOL or something. i can't remember what it stands for, but i think its an organic material. i really don't know whaen we'll see next generation CPU's hit shelves though...

very interesting...but it's hard to believe they just found out about this problem. don't they have a several year roadmap that they are on pace to meet? it seems hard to believe that they wouldn't know when their next generation cpu's will be available. if that were true wouldn't their stocks be in the toilet?

 

[sswingle]

AMD is going to release a couple more faster ones soon. I think I read 3600 and 3800 maybe...

 

[sandorski]

Originally posted by: broadwayblue

Originally posted by: Sunny129
they are currently pushing the limits of manufacturing processes on silicon, so both intel and AMD have R&D working on new technologies. word has it intel is experimenting with strained silicon, which will allow the manufacturing process to go even smaller than 90 nanometers and increase clock speeds again. and i don't recall what AMD has in the woodworks, but its called SOL or something. i can't remember what it stands for, but i think its an organic material. i really don't know whaen we'll see next generation CPU's hit shelves though...

very interesting...but it's hard to believe they just found out about this problem. don't they have a several year roadmap that they are on pace to meet? it seems hard to believe that they wouldn't know when their next generation cpu's will be available. if that were true wouldn't their stocks be in the toilet?

AMD made an odd comment back in the Spring that seemed to indicate that 3ghz+ speeds were in fact a problem. I don't recall the exact wording, but the comment started a lot of conjecture about whether AMD was going to leave the desktop market altogether as well as other theories.

AMD certainly had some major issues with 3000+(and greater) SocketA processors and Intel seems to be having issues with their >3ghz processors as well. AMD has kinda remedied the situation, a little bit, with their Athlon 64, but both companies are really(it seems) just biding(sp) their time right now until they can refine a smaller process.

 

[touchmyichi]

Originally posted by: sandorski

Originally posted by: broadwayblue

Originally posted by: Sunny129
they are currently pushing the limits of manufacturing processes on silicon, so both intel and AMD have R&D working on new technologies. word has it intel is experimenting with strained silicon, which will allow the manufacturing process to go even smaller than 90 nanometers and increase clock speeds again. and i don't recall what AMD has in the woodworks, but its called SOL or something. i can't remember what it stands for, but i think its an organic material. i really don't know whaen we'll see next generation CPU's hit shelves though...

very interesting...but it's hard to believe they just found out about this problem. don't they have a several year roadmap that they are on pace to meet? it seems hard to believe that they wouldn't know when their next generation cpu's will be available. if that were true wouldn't their stocks be in the toilet?

AMD made an odd comment back in the Spring that seemed to indicate that 3ghz+ speeds were in fact a problem. I don't recall the exact wording, but the comment started a lot of conjecture about whether AMD was going to leave the desktop market altogether as well as other theories.

AMD certainly had some major issues with 3000+(and greater) SocketA processors and Intel seems to be having issues with their >3ghz processors as well. AMD has kinda remedied the situation, a little bit, with their Athlon 64, but both companies are really(it seems) just biding(sp) their time right now until they can refine a smaller process.

Naww....there's still plenty of headroom. Seeing that C intel chips are hitting 3.6 ghz..... But really, clock speed is irrelevant, athlon xp proved that. But, the mhz myth is still a great marketing tool.

 

[Lynx516]

The problem is that Intel's process is or is rumoured to be broken for teh presscott (massive leakage currents) and so the yeilds have gone through the floor. On AMD's side they just arnt producign Athlon 64/FXs in large quantities at the moment.

If Intel cannot fix their process they may (an wisly in my opinion) revert to using the Pentium M as a desktop chip. I personally think they should ditch Presscott and go with Nathan (or what ever the name is) ( the next Pentium M) as it runs cool and shifts and should be able to get to about 2.5Ghz (at whcih speed it shoudl perform about the same as a 3.6-3.8 Ghz P4 easily) straight off the bat.

SOI. Silicon on Insulator is a process that has been developed to reduce leakage currents and hence reduce power consumption and heat output.

 

[nowayout99]

Originally posted by: broadwayblue

Originally posted by: Sunny129
they are currently pushing the limits of manufacturing processes on silicon, so both intel and AMD have R&D working on new technologies. word has it intel is experimenting with strained silicon, which will allow the manufacturing process to go even smaller than 90 nanometers and increase clock speeds again. and i don't recall what AMD has in the woodworks, but its called SOL or something. i can't remember what it stands for, but i think its an organic material. i really don't know whaen we'll see next generation CPU's hit shelves though...

very interesting...but it's hard to believe they just found out about this problem. don't they have a several year roadmap that they are on pace to meet? it seems hard to believe that they wouldn't know when their next generation cpu's will be available. if that were true wouldn't their stocks be in the toilet?

Well they're not just discovering these issues, they've long been R&Ding and are R&Ding for the next couple of generations out. It's just apparently taking longer than hoped to solve current problems. The last I read, they still have a roadmap to be at roughly 4GHz/4000+ by end of 2004.

 

[broadwayblue]

i guess you guys were right. yet another month has gone by and no sign of anything new on the cpu front. when was the last time either Intel or AMD were stuck at the same speed for this long? Intel's 3.2ghz chip has been out for at least 6 months, right?

 

[myocardia]

Judging from the last couple of chip releases by both companies, it looks to me like they plan on just adding more cache to their chips, instead of actually making them faster. Oh well, a 3.2 Ghz P4C with 512MB (no, not kilobytes) of level 1, along with 1 GB of level 2 would be a nice upgrade, wouldn't it?

 

[dmcowen674]

Just remember 20 years ago we were at 4 MHZ and 2 years later to get to 12 MHZ and having hard time pushing them to 16 MHZ. So take it easy and enjoy these blazing speeds.