20nm NEWS!

[Wraith]

Good news at last for all you GPU enthusiasts out there, TSMC (Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company) have declaired that they are to increase their production capacity for the second half of 2014.

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) will operate at full capacity in the third and fourth quarters, with revenues generated from 20nm processes to account for 10% of total revenues in the third quarter and rise to 20% in the fourth, according company chairman Morris Chang.

The global semiconductor industry is expected to grow 3-5% annually in the next five years, but TSMC's growth rates will be higher than the industry average, Chang said at the company's latest shareholders meeting.

TSMC's wafer production reached 15.67 million 8-inch equivalent wafers in 2013 compared to 14.04 million units a year earlier, said the company, adding that 40/45nm and below processes currently account for 50% of TSMC's total revenues.

TSMC currently has a total of over 20 tape-out clients for its 16nm FinFET process, the company noted.

Meanwhile, TSMC plans to set up a special R&D unit, which will be powered by 300-400 technicians, to develop 10nm processes, aiming to push the process into trial production in 2015 and mass production in 2016.

So with this news reverberating across the tinterwebs, it means we should see 20nm fabricated AMD/nVidia gpus faster and sooner than we expected which can only be a good thing.

Thoughts bellow as usual

Source: Digitimes

~Wraithguard~​

Slight update 18/07/2014

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) will lose out to competitors in the 14/16nm process segment in terms of market share in 2015 but will regain its leading market position in 2016-2017, according to TSMC chairman Morris Chang.

16nm products will account for a single-digit ratio to TSMC's overall revenues in the third quarter of 2015, Chang estimated.

Chang did not say which rivals will outperform TSMC in 2015, but industry sources pointed out that Samsung Electronics will take the lead in the 14/16nm segment as the firm has reportedly landed 14nm chip orders from Qualcomm.

However, Chang stressed that 16/20nm processes will drive revenue growth at TSMC in the next three years, with 20nm products to account for 10% total revenues in the third quarter of 2014 and to further expand to 20% in the fourth quarter. In 2015, the 20nm node will contribute over 20% of revenues, Chang added.

TSMC's 16nm process will be competitive for baseband chips, consumer ICs, GPUs, networking solutions, FPGA and server chips, Chang stressed.

Meanwhile, TSMC expects its revenues to grow 12.6-14.2% sequentially to NT$206-209 billion (US$6.86-6.96 billion) in the third quarter of 2014, up from the NT$183.02 billion a quarter earlier.

For the third quarter, gross margin will reach 48.5-50.5%, while operating margin will top 38.5%-40.5%, TSMC noted.

 

[NeverBackDown]

Bout damn time!

I'm most interested in how the Hawaii cores will fare with 20nm. Look at their specs now and they have 6 billion transistors on the 28nm die. That number will grow and it will be quite a feat to fit it in a die so small. Also curious about power efficiency/heat output gains since they are the hottest most power hungry cores atm.

 

[WYP]

If this gets better chips out faster this is a good thing.

 

[NeverBackDown]

Did they say why they are ramping up production? Increased demand or etc? If so then that could mean AMD/Nvidia are really lining up the next gen cards.

 

[Wraith]

Did they say why they are ramping up production? Increased demand or etc? If so then that could mean AMD/Nvidia are really lining up the next gen cards.

Demand and moving with the times as far as I can see, but boosting 20nm fabrication is going to be very well accepted.. "I'm bored with it now, bring on 10nm" :lol:

 

[Dicehunter]

Demand and moving with the times as far as I can see, but boosting 20nm fabrication is going to be very well accepted.. "I'm bored with it now, bring on 10nm" :lol:

10nm ? HA, I want 1nm !!! ^_^

 

[WYP]

From here it is going to get harder and harder top get to smaller process nodes, I don't quite remember where they say the limits of Silicon is but isn't it around 10nm?

From there we will have to find another way to get smaller, carbon nanotubes possibly. I don't really know, not my type of engineering.

 

[Wraith]

From here it is going to get harder and harder top get to smaller process nodes, I don't quite remember where they say the limits of Silicon is but isn't it around 10nm?

From there we will have to find another way to get smaller, carbon nanotubes possibly. I don't really know, not my type of engineering.

I've actually been wondering this and doing some reading into it and as far as I can see it is unclear whether 16nm and below will be technologically possible. For reference, a silicon atom is about 0.3nm across, so the gate would be less than 40 atoms long in an 11nm device. Clearly there is a fundamental limit that will be reached shortly. :huh:

As for carbon nano tubes that is still in it's infancy of research.. with moores law taken into account we don't have very long before were looking for alternatives to silicon wafers.

 

[remember300]

Im waiting for the crystals they use in stargate all you have to do if there is a problem is swap them around and no need for LEDs lol
But that does make sense about the 16nm structures, the other advangtage I see of putting a 16nm layout/structure would be to put it on a larger die for better heat dispersion possibly.

 

[Fringie]

I've read the reason why Intel are end of roadmap (5nm) is because of problems due to some sort of interference at that level. P.S. Even if they can get it that small the price to manufacturer something that small would be crazy.. Realistically by then we need a new technology or we need to improve IPC/architecture and so on.

I hope this means the rumoured GTX 870/880 in Q4 is 20 nm assuming it's true (I doubt it though ). Dare I say a single GTX 880 with the maxwell architecture will be able to 4k game (realistically we wont get the full chip at first most likely). Oh well though as I'm hoping for a lot from Maxwell nevermind 20nm maxwell (I'd think they can push out 2x the performance vs the prev gen i.e. 780 vs 880). + I'm not getting the 880 anymore so I have no reason to be down about that but it'd be nice to see it regardless.

P.S. Don't forget about AMD, I'm sure they have some big deal cards hidden away ^_^ (if only we had some info to gossip about ).

 

[Wraith]

I hope this means the rumoured GTX 870/880 in Q4 is 20 nm assuming it's true (I doubt it though ). Dare I say a single GTX 880 with the maxwell architecture will be able to 4k game (realistically we wont get the full chip at first most likely). Oh well though as I'm hoping for a lot from Maxwell nevermind 20nm maxwell (I'd think they can push out 2x the performance vs the prev gen i.e. 780 vs 880). + I'm not getting the 880 anymore so I have no reason to be down about that but it'd be nice to see it regardless.

P.S. Don't forget about AMD, I'm sure they have some big deal cards hidden away ^_^ (if only we had some info to gossip about ).

It'll be highly unlikely we'll see anything physical until Q3 or Q4 2015, all they have stated is that R&D with production of the 20nm process is being ramped up, which is great news.

 

[Wraith]

Slight update on TSMCs production of the 20nm fabrication. I have contacted TSMC but they unfortunately declined to give us anything else than what is already in the media at the moment or insider hints.. Booooo do they know who we are!?! Anyway OP updated.