Tuesday, July 25th 2017
AMD to Build "Zen 2" and "Zen 3" Processors on 7 nm Process: CTO
AMD is in no mood to stick to the 14 nm process for as long as Intel has (building four performance x86 CPU micro-architectures on it). In an interview with EE Times, AMD CTO Mark Papermaster confirmed that the company's "Zen 2" and "Zen 3" CPU micro-architectures will be built on the next-generation 7 nm silicon fab process. Transition to the 7 nm process is not as straightforward as optically shrinking your chip designs and shipping them over to your foundry. Apparently it requires big technical changes for the chip design teams, which AMD feels are better executed while it's still riding on the success of its current "Zen" architecture.
"We had to literally double our efforts across foundry and design teams…It's the toughest lift I've seen in a number of generations," said Papermaster. He added that the 7 nm node requires new "CAD tools and [changes in] the way you architect the device [and] how you connect transistors-the implementation and tools change [as well as] the IT support you need to get through it." Papermaster predicts that 7 nm will be a "long node like 28 nm" in that chip designers will have to build several refinements to their designs on the node before the newer 4 nm node could be heralded. He urged semiconductor foundry companies to introduce EUV (extreme ultra-violet lithography), a technique used to etch transistors and circuits at the infinitesimally small 7 nm node, as soon as possible, so AMD could have more options at manufacturing its next generation processors.
Source:
EE Times
"We had to literally double our efforts across foundry and design teams…It's the toughest lift I've seen in a number of generations," said Papermaster. He added that the 7 nm node requires new "CAD tools and [changes in] the way you architect the device [and] how you connect transistors-the implementation and tools change [as well as] the IT support you need to get through it." Papermaster predicts that 7 nm will be a "long node like 28 nm" in that chip designers will have to build several refinements to their designs on the node before the newer 4 nm node could be heralded. He urged semiconductor foundry companies to introduce EUV (extreme ultra-violet lithography), a technique used to etch transistors and circuits at the infinitesimally small 7 nm node, as soon as possible, so AMD could have more options at manufacturing its next generation processors.
32 Comments on AMD to Build "Zen 2" and "Zen 3" Processors on 7 nm Process: CTO
I wonder how it'll affect the APUs.
Mark my words, the next thing the cheap sleazy lunatics who run AMD are going to do is to outsource their whole CPU division to China or India. That nobody, Raja Kadouri, has already moved most of their graphics division out of Canada. They think everything is interchangeable. The original team that designed GCN, headed by Phil Rogers and Matt Skinner both of whom left the company back in 2015, has been entirely laid off.
Also your overall comment smells of saltyness, hence biased.
So my question to you, who is acting here like a fanboy from other pond ?
Also it's likely zen2 is the next step somewhere in 2018 and a possible zen+ could replace the fx lineup, at least on the mobile front.
Try to twist facts harder, liar. Get out of here.
Regardless, Intel's performance is better because the clock speeds are generally higher (though comparing comparable core counts versus clocks is less straightforward).
The multi core chips from Intel are OC'ing higher than Ryzen so the difference shows there. I don't regret buying Ryzen but with hindsight, I would have bought the 7820X.
My hope is the Zen refresh or upgrade will appear and it's socket compatibility with X370 is good. I could happily stick with Zen with that.
I've recently built Ryzen 1800x @4.0ghz for work, and I have to say its amazing for its price. Also thinking of moving now to a Ryzen build for my home PC, however i'm not sure whether to wait for as you said - Zen refresh / upgrade, or just go for 1700 now.
As I understand it, AMD plans to support AM4 socket for quite some time, hence next release should also support it. Or only next 14nm will support it, not the eventually upcoming 7nm Zen?
Apparently even Bristol Ridge is some sort of low-volume HP exclusive, and totally impossible to find...
Raven Ridge is not even in news anymore, and apparently moved the release date to Q4'17-Q1'18 or maybe later.
This should give an indication.
I'm just wondering if EUV 7nm will actually bring any performance/efficiency improvement over the original 7nm.
EDIT: Digressions aside, yes I too am getting slightly worried about them APUs. :(
GloFo not ready to do 7nm.