By: Heikki Kultala (heikki.kult.ala.delete@this.gmail.com), July 29, 2021 11:18 pm
Room: Moderated Discussions
Doug S (foo.delete@this.bar.bar) on July 29, 2021 5:44 pm wrote:
> None of it really matters, since the process names have nothing to do with a physical dimension
> anywhere in the design. It is just a placeholder for "2x the transistors in the next generation"
> but we aren't even seeing that lately as TSMC only got 1.8x scaling on N5 and 1.7x on N3
> - but TSMC wasn't calling those 5nm and 3nm, it is mostly outsiders doing so (maybe TSMC
> does as well, but probably only because outsiders referred to them that way)
>
> Who knows what TSMC will call the stuff below N2, will it be N1.4 or P1400 or just
> choose another letter at random, multiply by 10, so X14 then X10 and so on.
TSMC did not get 1.8x scaling on N5. In reality (by synthesizing any reasonable piece of logic than does something) it's much worse.
Or, lets say that TSMC might have gotten 1.8x for single best-case standard cell component type for their marketing materials, but TSMCs customers get MUCH LESS than 1,8x for their real-world designs that actually do something useful.
> None of it really matters, since the process names have nothing to do with a physical dimension
> anywhere in the design. It is just a placeholder for "2x the transistors in the next generation"
> but we aren't even seeing that lately as TSMC only got 1.8x scaling on N5 and 1.7x on N3
> - but TSMC wasn't calling those 5nm and 3nm, it is mostly outsiders doing so (maybe TSMC
> does as well, but probably only because outsiders referred to them that way)
>
> Who knows what TSMC will call the stuff below N2, will it be N1.4 or P1400 or just
> choose another letter at random, multiply by 10, so X14 then X10 and so on.
TSMC did not get 1.8x scaling on N5. In reality (by synthesizing any reasonable piece of logic than does something) it's much worse.
Or, lets say that TSMC might have gotten 1.8x for single best-case standard cell component type for their marketing materials, but TSMCs customers get MUCH LESS than 1,8x for their real-world designs that actually do something useful.