Ah I didn't realize the alliance had diverged to such a degree. Thanks for the clarification.
AMD's Q1 2014 earnings call transcript points towards no chips in 20 nm this year.
Could we see something like the low-end and midrange Pirate Islands chips in 2014 on 28 nm for lower cost (especially whatever succeeds Pitcairn/Curacao since that doesn't have TrueAudio) and the high-end Pirate Island chip in 2015 on 20 nm, or would it be better to go all 20 nm in 2015?
IMHO both IHVs are in the same boat right now for 20SoC. No idea about AMD's Bermuda but I'd like to stand corrected that GM200 didn't have its tape out yet.
I kinda hope that both come out with a large 28nm design, just to have a process neutral comparison of the progression of the state-of-the-art in design in 3 years. The GTX750Ti was already very nice, but a large silicon version would be even better.
IOW: I hope Erinyes is at least partially correct.
And then they should shrink the identical design asap, to have a design neutral comparison of the progression of process.
I don't know about IBM (their constraints are pretty different from those of other foundries) but I'm fairly sure Samsung/GloFo's 14nm process is 14nm transistors with 20nm BEOL, just like TSMC.
Did Samsung directly reference the density of TSMC's 20nm?Yep the only difference is that Samsung claims that its process has a higher density than TSMC. TSMC's 16nm process has a very small density improvement over 20nm, ~5%. Samsung claims a 15% improvement for their 14nm process.
Did Samsung directly reference the density of TSMC's 20nm?
What if TSMC's 20nm is denser than Samsung's? Lesser scaling from a better starting point can still lead to the same end result.
Granted, as noted before, there is a metric ton of PR garbage inherent to any density discussion.
The headline density numbers may vary depending on what structures are being used as the metric. Less regular logic, a global average, or highly regular SRAM would have different values. Do we know which PR statement is the source for both?
Headline density may or may not be used in a given product, and marketing pressures can lead to the quoting of higher density numbers that some products would avoid using.
The other question is whether TSCM's or Samsung's 20nm are 20nm, or the same value that is not 20nm, or even if they're talking about the same critical measures, or if those measures are not offset by other unmentioned quirks or side effects.
Or if the 16/14nm metrics are even consistent within manufacturers, much less between them.
Yep the only difference is that Samsung claims that its process has a higher density than TSMC. TSMC's 16nm process has a very small density improvement over 20nm, ~5%. Samsung claims a 15% improvement for their 14nm process.
Going from the discussion at the (current) latest posts in the Volcanic Islands thread:
From eXtremeSpec: "AMD Pirate Islands Can be Announced The Summer."
The page links to a graphic containing claimed upcoming AMD GPUs and their specs:
R9 390X: Bermuda, 4224 CCs, 512-bit bus, October 2014.
R9 380X: Fiji, 3072 CCs, 384-bit bus, 2015.
R9 370X: Treasure Island, 1536 CCs, 256-bit bus, July 2014.
All on TSMC 20 nm. Note that most of these specs have question marks beside them.
If true then these chips should give the considerable performance jump that many have been waiting for. I think that 20 nm in July 2014 seems rather early though.
No AMD 20nm graphics this year
When asked whether AMD will have have any 20nm GPUs this year or next year, Lisa Su SVP and General Manager of AMD’s Global Business Unit said: “We are 28nm this year"
http://www.fudzilla.com/home/item/34562-no-amd-20nm-graphics-this-year
Since we now know that AMD will not have any GPUs on 20nm this year can we concur that all of the other data from eXtremeSpec is just made up?
AMD is reportedly working on a new single-GPU graphics card SKU to compete with the likes of GeForce GTX 780 Ti, and perhaps even take a swing at the GTX TITAN Black, since it's not too far ahead of the GTX 780 Ti at single-display gaming. The new SKU will be more than just a clock-speed bump, it will leverage HBM (high-bandwidth memory), a cutting-edge new technology that relies on stacking multiple DRAM dies with dedicated memory paths into a single package, cutting down on power-draw, thermals, and PCB real-estate.
AMD to Launch New Single-GPU Card This Summer, to Take on GTX 780 Ti
http://www.techpowerup.com/200721/a...u-card-this-summer-to-take-on-gtx-780-ti.html
This news post from a few days ago is what got me thinking about it.
Makes it sound like the r290x wouldn't already compete with the 780 Ti.... Last time I checked it was within 5% of the performance of it, unless you use the reference cooler on the quiet setting.AMD to Launch New Single-GPU Card This Summer, to Take on GTX 780 Ti
http://www.techpowerup.com/200721/a...u-card-this-summer-to-take-on-gtx-780-ti.html
Only reference to Volcanic Island, which Hawaii should be too, is that 1.4 adds support for Volcanic Islands.Check CodeXL 1.4 PDF
you will see Volcanic Island vs Hawai Sea Island (ASIC)
Check C++ AMP Lambda API, which also for Xbox One
You will see AMD Next Generation Tiled GPU vs older Untiled GPU
AMD will moved to Tiled Architecture