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Only "good" Pentium 4s have EM64T enabled
http://www.theinquirer.net/?article=21233
ONLY THE CYNICAL survive. Long after they are supposed to, probably. Intel has told everyone on the record now that it will soon switch all of its desktop processors over to support for 64-32 extensions.....
How will it do this? Well, the engineers at a fab will throw a switch and the number of the processors will change so that a 531 - a 3GHz Pentium 4 - will be exactly identical to a 530 except EM64T will be switched on.....
Thanks
Microprocessor Report "Analyst's Choice" names Montecito
best server MPU:
http://h21007.www2.hp.com/dspp/files/unprotected/Itanium/MPRonline-Itanium105.pdf
Nice, Microprocessor Report is well respected, and widely read. That's good news intel, and I2..... Btw, that's one heck of a "birdie" you have there
http://www.investorshub.com/boards/read_msg.asp?message_id=5330134
Executive Q&A: Intel's Sunlin Chou on manufacturing
http://tinyurl.com/3oddo
Despite the topsy-turvy cycles in the semiconductor industry, Intel Corp. continues to move down the fast and furious path of Moore's Law. In doing so, the microprocessor giant is investing billions of dollars in developing new and innovative IC manufacturing technologies, such as atomic layer deposition (ALD), extreme ultraviolet (EUV) lithography, and "open architecture" ATE.
Department of Homeland Security Center Relies on SGI Technology to Help Protect America's Skies
http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/050207/sfm017_1.html
MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif., Feb. 7 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- A state-of-the-art radar surveillance center operated by the Department of Homeland Security and powered by high-performance computing and storage technology from Silicon Graphics (NYSE: SGI - News) is playing an integral role in protecting America. Under a contract with The Titan Corporation (NYSE: TTN - News), a leading national security solutions provider, SGI(R) Altix(R) supercomputers and SGI(R) InfiniteStorage solutions have been successfully installed at the Air Marine Operations Center (AMOC) in Riverside, Calif., to help the center better utilize its extensive detection, monitoring, and coordination capabilities to secure the national airspace.
Three SGI Altix servers powered by 16 Intel(R) Itanium(R) 2 processors each run the SGI(R) InfiniteStorage Shared Filesystem CXFS(TM) for instant shared access to 8TB of SGI(R) InfiniteStorage TP9500 Fibre Channel disk on an SGI(R) Storage Area Network (SAN) to form an integrated solution that enables the AMOC to process, store and share the enormous amount of data that flows through the center from a plethora of sources.
Intel standard cooler not really good enough
http://www.theinquirer.net/?article=21210
IT'S BEEN A a little while since we first saw Intel's 775 Pentium 4 stock cooler. As you know, as soon as Intel launched the LGA775 socket, cooling manufacturers had to come up with some new ideas.
Intel 65nm desktop, server CPUs 'up and running
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2005/02/10/intel_65nm_cpus/
Intel has 65nm versions of its mobile, desktop and server-oriented dual-core processors up and running in the its labs, a senior company executive revealed today.
Questioned in London today about Intel's 65nm processor plans, Kirk Skaugen, marketing director at Intel's Digital Enterprise Group, said the chip maker has "dual-core up and running across all our platforms".
Sun shuns Intel
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2005/02/10/sun_kills_intel/
Sun Microsystems' embrace of Intel processors lasted all of two years. It has decided to go the Opteron-only route for its x86-compatible workstations and one- to four-processor servers.
Last month, Sun stopped shipping its V60x and V65x Xeon-based servers, a company spokesman confirmed. Sun executives had hinted last year that such a move might be in order, and they have been endorsing AMD over its longtime rival Intel for some time.
Cell chip critics hear Itanic seagulls
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2005/02/11/cell_cpu_letters/
Letters Readers have responded to the prospect of the IBM/Sony Cell chip with measures of skepticism and enthusiasm. The former by far outweighing the latter.
"I haven't been so excited about a new chip architecture since ... Transmeta!" writes Bruce. "And look how that turned out!"
Referring to the Cell chip's ability to scavenge for resources over the world wide web, Tzetan Mikov sounds a warning note, echoed by many readers.
"This has very little to do with microprocessor or system architecture, but is almost exclusively an issue of software - OS, supporting tools, etc. Software that apparently doesn't still exist, and if it did, there is nothing preventing it from running on more ''conventional' hardware.
Tweedle AMD and Tweedle Intel dum ready server battle
http://www.theinquirer.net/?article=21213
We also expect price changes from both Intel and AMD next week, but the chip giant will step up the pressure later in the week, according to the most recent roadmaps seen by the INQUIRER.
Later this month it will introduce a 2MB L2 cache 3.73GHz Extreme Edition processor for the high end enthusiast market, while its 600 series chips will prompt price drops on existing microprocessors. Intel will also introduce Celerons which support its EM64T 64-32 architecture.
There will also be introductions of Celermon Ms in late February, and price cuts on existing notebook components
Intel Quietly Adds New Chipsets into Lineup
http://tinyurl.com/4kvly
Without making any announcements to the general public, Intel Corp. added its i915GL and i915PL chipsets into lineup of core-logic offerings recently, confirming earlier reports about i915-series chipsets with cut-down specifications, particularly without DDR2 memory support.
Two million Intel 64-32 Xeons ship
http://www.theinquirer.net/?article=21188
Itanium used in Airbus A380 project
INTEL EXECUTIVE Kirk Skaugen gave a briefing to UK journalists this morning and said the second million 64-32 Xeon processor had shipped.
And although he wouldn't say so directly when asked, he certainly didn't deny Intel has already migrated its dual core technology on all platforms to a 65 nanometre process. He also said Intel's dual core tech was already well fledged across desktops, servers and notebook chips.
NVIDIA’s Forthcoming Intel Pentium 4 Chipset Passes Certification.
http://www.xbitlabs.com/news/chipsets/display/20050209023536.html
NVIDIA Corp.’s upcoming core-logic for Intel Pentium 4 processors code-named Crush 19, or C19, has already been certified by PCI Special Interest Group and is currently in the PCI-SIG’s Integrator’s List, according to the organization’s web-site. The certification confirms NVIDIA’s plans to release a high-quality core-logic product supporting Intel’s chips in the short-term.
Intel, Qinetiq build ultra-low power transistor
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2005/02/09/intel_qinetic/
Intel's ongoing partnership with UK-based technology R&D company Qinetiq to investigate future transistor designs has yielded some "hugely promising" results, the duo announced yesterday.
For the past two years, the two companies have been collaborating on an exploration of the use of indium antimonide (InSb) in the construction of transistors.
According to Qinetiq, InSb enables not only a very low voltage operation but also a higher switch performance. Transistors made from the material, the company's research suggests, would consume a tenth of the energy gobbled up by today's transistors yet deliver the same performance. Or they could be used to triple performance for the same power consumption, it said.
Intel confirms launch of 6XX desktop chips
http://www.theinquirer.net/?article=21155
CHIP FIRM Intel confirmed our earlier reports of 2MB L2 cache 6XX desktop processors. These also have power saving Speedstep stuff built in, and provide "headroom" for the future. They come out at the end of the month, it appears.
In a conference call for analysts and the press, the firm said that the NX flag provided better security and the 6XX series even saved on electricity. Heck, a power cut saves on electricity.
The 600 series will work in existing 9xx chipsets, again confirming earlier stories here on the INQ. Intel said the 600 series doesn't require a new software image.
Photoresists Meet the 193 nm Milestone
http://tinyurl.com/3zmq8
For many companies, 2005 will be the year that 90 nm processes are ramped into full-scale production and 193 nm systems become the lithography platform of choice for critical levels (Fig. 1 ). Alongside this significant milestone, immersion lithography is grabbing all the headlines. "Immersion lithography has stolen the spotlight this year, but from a production standpoint, we can say that this is the year that 193 nm lithography moved from development into large-scale production," said Mark Slezak, technical manager of lithography for JSR Micro (Sunnyvale, Calif.).
Cell
http://www.overclockers.com/tips00723/
Not OMG, But Good Enough?
My gut reaction to all this is that we're getting hyped on all this, and what we're going to end up seeing in something like a PS3 isn't going to make companies like Intel and Microsoft or AMD evaporate on first contact.
However, even if you dismiss 80% of the claims as hype as it applies to the PS3, what remains would still be good enough to give those companies a very rough time.
ISSCC: Itanium prompts drove of papers
http://tinyurl.com/3vof4
Intel's Itanium processor has again spawned a number of papers at ISSCC, this year detailing power control, dual multi-threaded cores and 26.5Mbyte of on-die cache.
Codenamed Montecito, the 1.7 billion transistor processor runs at 100W, with voltage and frequency dynamically varied to control power consumption.
For a CEO that is pretty cheap.
Hector Ruiz salary in 2003 was $950,000 base. Although, he was real smart in negotiations. If he gets canned, he has a sweet golden parachute. Jerry claims to be consulting for free. If true, then Jerry's overpaid, imo
Intel to pay new CEO $650,000 plus perks
http://tinyurl.com/5p68y
NEW YORK, Feb 8 (Reuters) - Intel Corp. (INTC.O: Quote, Profile, Research) , the world's largest microchip maker, on Tuesday said it would pay Paul Otellini, who is set to become chief executive in May, a base salary to $650,000 a year, effective June 1.
Intel preps Q2 dual-core P4 Extreme Edition launch
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2005/02/08/intel_dualie_p4ee/
Intel's dual-core desktop processor plans will indeed stretch to the Pentium 4 Extreme Edition line, the chip maker has revealed.
It also confirmed that 'Smithfield', the dual-core P4 for mainstream applications, will launch in Q2 this year, though volume shipments are not expected to take place until Q3.
The announcement clears up a question mark over the company's roadmap, which while highlighting upcoming mainstream dual-core P4s, appeared to ignore the P4EE family.
Intel confirms 'desktrino' consumer platform plan
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2005/02/08/intel_centrino_for_desktops/
An Intel executive has confirmed that the chip maker plans to launch a Centrino-style platform for consumer desktop PCs and that it is due to be launched in Q3.
Intel marketing director Jeff Tripaldi didn't provide much more information: the name has yet to be chosen, he said, and it will centre, as anticipated, on the company's dual-core desktop chip 'Smithfield', although Tripaldi didn't mention that codename.
Intel teams up with intel on transistor breakthrough
http://www.theinquirer.net/?article=21149
CHIP FIRM Intel said that is has cooperated with Qinetiq for the last two years on a technology that could improve transistors.
The research has resulted in both companies building so-called "quantum well" transistors using Indium Antimonide.
Qinetq was founded in 2001 with staff from the Defence Evaluation and Research Agency - that's the labs for the Ministry of Defence here.
Preliminary results show that quantum well transistors have a ten times lower power consumption for the same performance.
Intel talks about Montecito server chip
http://www.theinquirer.net/?article=21150
AS YOU'D EXPECT, Intel had something to say at the current solid scale conference as well as Sony and IBM.
It unveiled some of its plans for the 24MB dual core Montecito, which will ship at 2GHz and have 1.72 billion transistors.
Intel, AMD jockey for multicore mindshare
http://tinyurl.com/3jeho
MANHASSET, N.Y. — Seeking to beat AMD to the punch, Intel on Monday (Feb. 7) announced that it will ship its first dual-core Pentium processors in the second quarter of this year.
The semiconductor giant may have been trying to get a jump on an AMD announcement scheduled for next week at the LinuxWorld conference in Boston. There, AMD is expected to disclose details about the availability of dual-core version of its processors.
Intel dumps current polymer memory plans
http://www.theinquirer.net/?article=21123
CHIP GIANT INTEL has decided that polymer memory, which it got very excited about a couple of years ago, isn't as exciting as it first thought.
Norwegian firm Opticom issued a regulatory notice saying that its subsidiary, Thin Film Electronics, has had a formal letter from Intel.
It told Opticom that its development plans for polymer memory are "being significantly scaled back" during this quarter.
AMD ignores the Intel hyena at its peril
http://www.theinquirer.net/?article=21125
WE CONTINUE to slightly fret about whether AMD is spending too much time worrying about marketing and inventing brands rather than making great products and selling them.
But we wonder if perhaps AMD succumbed to the praise lavished on it in 2004 and failed to watch its competitor as it took serious steps to regain its market lead. The chip business is and always has been a tough business - it's linked indissolubly to high capital costs and Grove's aphorism "only the paranoid survive" continues to hold true.
Is AMD too pushed to spend much time examining the biggest threat to its continued existence? Or would it rather just lap up the hack-generated cream like a contented fat cat, not realising that there's a hyena lurking just outside the door and it wants blood?
Intel sells 10,000 Pentium 4s
http://www.theinquirer.net/?article=21128
CHIP GIANT Intel said that a big Indonesian bank will deploy over 10,000 PCs using Pentium 4s with hyperthreading and the 915G integrated graphics chipset.
Intel looks to power at ISSCC
http://tinyurl.com/72ckc
Power, heat and leakage have become the bane of chipmakers looking to crank up the clock speed to improve performance. So this year at the International Solid State Circuits Society (ISSCC) conference in San Francisco, Intel plans to release papers on technologies to crank back the clock.
The chipmaker will reveal details of a handful of new advances to improve the power usage and heat dissipation of its chips, and offer information on the progress of its efforts at radio on a chip.
Intel reveals MIMO radio, dual-core Itanium
http://tinyurl.com/3laf4
SAN FRANCISCO — Intel Corp. will use the International Solid State Circuits Conference (ISSCC) here this week to introduce a dual-core Itanium processor along with one of the first CMOS radio chips using multiple-input/multiple output (MIMO) antenna technology.
Intel's CMOS radio project aims to reduce power while enhancing performance. While the end game for CMOS radio development might be a reconfigurable device capable of communicating with a variety of wireless LANs using different frequencies and protocols, a MIMO antenna system may be the first step toward that goal, said Krishnamurthy Soumya, director for communications circuits research.
Intel debuts dynamic low-power processor technology
http://tinyurl.com/48cef
SAN JOSE, Calif. — Hoping to solve a major problem in systems design, Intel Corp. on Monday (Feb. 7) disclosed more details about its dynamic low-power technology for high-end microprocessors.
The low-power technology, dubbed Foxton, is initially targeted for Intel's dual-core, 64-bit Itanium processor line, but it will be eventually incorporated within its 32- and 64-bit Xeon chips.
Intel: Making Cell Calls?
http://biz.yahoo.com/bizwk/050204/b3920127mz027_1.html
With Intel (NasdaqNM:INTC - News) struggling to crack the white-hot cell-phone business, some pros say it has little choice but to buy its way in. Names that pop up include Qualcomm and Analog Devices (NYSE:ADI - News), which already collaborates with Intel on cell-phone technology. But attempts with Analog "have met with limited success," says Krishna Shankar of JMP Securities. The plum catch, he asserts, is Texas Instruments.....
With its solid balance sheet and market value of $144 billion, Intel, trading at 22 a share, can easily gobble up TI, with a market cap of $40 billion and a stock price at 23. Both are off about 30% from their 52-week highs. An Intel-TI deal may raise regulatory issues, warns Shankar, who also owns both stocks
After intel's first attempt to buy into a market, blew up in their face in the dot com bust, and what looked like a second attempt about to happen, with LCOS also went down the drain, I HOPE intel isn't so dumb as to try for 3 strikes and you're out..... SHEESH
Semi, thanks a lot. The question I have is by how much would the capacity be reduced in the next 5 months due to the conversion of 40% of the current lines? I´m not sure if I´m asking the right question :(
Wow, hard to tell, without specific tool throughput numbers, but IMO, what seems intuitive is probably pretty close. The new process provides more chips (ie more capacity), but the new process almost always yields lower (ie: less capacity), so it's pretty much straight forward 1:1 in the beginning. If you increase the new process (lower initial yield) capacity, say ~10%, I'm guessing that you lose ~10% of the (mature, higher yield) old process capacity. Relative to number of good die out.
Semi, others, I´m trying to get an idea what it means to convert fab capacity from one node to the next. The case I´m having in mind here is AMD. Simplified, they are currently at about 50% of wafer starts at 90nm. In 5 months, they want to be at about 90% wafer starts at 90nm. What does that mean for capacity in the meantime? When would they take e.g. 130nm line "A" offline for conversion so that it can start 90nm production in 5 months at 90nm? TIA for any input you can give.
Chipguy had a good explanation. Usually, from one process generation to the next, you can reuse about 70% of the tools. The hardest part is switching over the Litho Tools. Most likely the critical layer steppers, which Chipguy refers to as "A" Steppers, will need to be taken off line, and either upgraded, or more likely, replaced. Most of the time, they're replaced, and an "A" Stepper then becomes a "B" stepper in the new process, and so on.
The biggest issue, is not in the reconfigured "B" and "C" class steppers, because they can most likely handle the non-critical Layers in the shrunken process, with adjustments to the Focus and Exposure, and without any major upgrades to the Lenses, but in any case, some sort of requalification of the "B" and "C" steppers will need to be done. If you get lucky, it might only require running a ton of split up lots, to compare previous technology results, to shrink results.
The Critical Layer "A" type Steppers are the pain. From what I've seen, from installation, to qual, to pilot runs, takes in excess of 6 months "Off Line", for each stepper, if everything goes right. I've never seen it done in less time. If however, you have the resources and space to do the stepper installations/qualifications in Parallel, so much the better. In any case, New Litho Stepper Masks will most likely be needed all across the board, for all layers.
I think the second most difficult might be thin films, since material thicknesses usually decrease with new processes, and the thinner the materials, the harder it is to maintain thickness and uniformity. There might be a need for a few deposition tools, maybe not. Etch will hopefully just need to adjust the chemical flows, and recipe times. Unless you have old etchers, which can't etch the thinner lines and spaces.
If AMD wants to go from 50% to 90% in the next 5 Months, those Critical Steppers need to be close to, if not already qualified, since Poly is relatively early in the Process Flow. You could probably be able to get away with the Metal1 Steppers for a few weeks more.
If the question being asked is do I think that any Fab can go from switching over from a 50/50 split on an old/new process, to switching over to 90% production on the new process "in the same fab" in 5 months..... maybe, if everything goes right (cough). It would be something to see, since I've never seen that aggressive a switchover ramp schedule in a single fab, in that timeframe, come to pass.
Intel Declares Regular Cash Dividend
http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/050203/35505_1.html
SANTA CLARA, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Feb. 3, 2005--The Intel Corporation board of directors has declared a $0.08 per share quarterly dividend on the company's common stock. The dividend is payable on March 1, 2005 to stockholders of record on Feb. 7, 2005.
Intel man shows he's sticky, sticky Glew
http://www.theinquirer.net/?article=21089
A SENIOR INTEL ARCHITECT who was wooed away by AMD to work on its K10 architecture but then came unstuck, has returned to work on major projects at Chipzilla, it appears.
Intel Yonah speed target is 2.5GHz
http://www.theinquirer.net/?article=21091
If AMD did not have the 'Taylor' dual core parts coming, it would be a knife in a gunfight situation for the boys in green. Taylor should be competitive, sporting power numbers a little lower than Yonah, but not by much. AMD's Achilles heel is chipsets.
Yonah's chipset, Napa, looks really good. All the Turion chipsets look to be the spiritual equivalent of the Pentium 4M, the same old desktop core but tweaked a bit. In my opinion that won't be enough to cut it. Any advantage Taylor has will be eaten up by the chipset. AMD will come close, but I don't think it will pull an Opteron on Intel in this round, Yonah is just too good.
Processor awards up for grabs
http://tinyurl.com/4g4vu
The team of analysts at Microprocessor Report present their choices for its annual processor awards.....
Excess 200-mm capacity could threaten next upturn
http://tinyurl.com/5nger
SAN JOSE, Calif. — The IC industry faces a glut of 200-mm fab capacity, which could threaten the dynamics of the next semiconductor upturn, according to an analyst.
"Based on historic trends as well as our checks with industry contacts, 200-mm capacity is not likely to be taken off line with any degree of rapidity despite the rapid migration to 300-mm manufacturing," said Cristina Osmena, an analyst with investment banking firm Jefferies & Co. Inc. (New York).
"While this may benefit chipmakers able to establish volume 300-mm manufacturing capability ahead of their competition, for the industry as a whole, this will lead to excess 200-mm capacity," Osmena said in a report. "Epidemic overcapacity in 200-mm may threaten the robustness of the next upturn."