GlobalFoundries Stops All 7nm Development

Yeah, mea culpa

Cheers

 

So what's the trade-off associated with FDX? Just density? Maximum clocks?

 

At present, both density and maximum clocks. It has benefits as well of course. Significant ones too, which is why there is growing interest outside max density/clock applications. It will be interesting to see how it evolves going forward. That remains to be seen, but it is a technology where GloFo is actually very well positioned, so it makes sense for them to focus on it.

 

So, is the GloFo partnership still relevant for AMD? For IO hubs, or some embedded/semi-custom designs, perhaps?

 

The 14/12nm AMD products will persist for some time, particularly the pro SKUs that emphasize stable product cycles and long-term availability.

The specialized processes GF is pursuing would benefit things such as the already mentioned IO or chipset silicon, or possibly future satellite chiplets on an interposer in the supposed dis-integrated future.
On the other hand, GF's approach to 2.5D and 3D has been more of a third-party based model, reflective of GF's more limited resources and expertise. TSMC's goal has been to be more of a one-stop shop for fanout and interposer integration, which could be an area AMD is concerned about given the wide-ranging logistical train it wrestled with getting the HBM GPUs developed and put together.