Advanced Micro Devices Inc (AMD)

[Elmer Phud]

Haddock -

I have to respin the A64 layout anyway to get rid of some unexpected speed paths so I can get over 2GHz.

OK, now I'm your boss:

After all this time I would think that you are nearing the end of the line for speedups from layout changes and many of those are done in metal anyway. You need to fix the process and that may not be possible this generation. Bigger L2 means new base layers, not just metal. What new speed paths are you going to introduce in addition to the ones you are trying to fix? You could have been shipping A64 ever since April if you just used the Opteron die. Why didn't you do that while you were doing your redesign? A 6 month slip costs us dearly in MSS not to mention reputation. How many units will you have to ship just to pay for the design effort and where is the crossover point compared to an A64 version of Opteron? All this is assuming you won't introduce any new problems and you won't slip your schedule any more than you already have. Why don't you just ship an A64/Opteron and put your efforts into 90nm?