Replies

And a review of a not yet released Quad Phenom processor:

******************************EXCERPT*************************

AMD will be preparing to attack the market more agressively in 2008. Their Tri-Core processors, which will be due out 2nd quarter of this year, is said to be cheaper than Intel's Core 2 Duo. And sure enough, we'll find out whether these Tri-Core CPUs will mean better peformance than the Dual Cores. There's also AMD's flagship high-end processor, the Phenom FX, which have yet to be released. On top of that, AMD have just released their highest performing graphics card in the form of the Radeon HD3870x2. It uses 2 RV670 GPUs on a single PCB, with Crossfire configuration already configured and ready to go. Preliminary tests have shown that the HD3870x2 looks very promising.

Yea Ernie, they just keep moving ahead. Of course Moore's law may be altered in the near future to physical limitations placed upon just how narrow a channel width one can make, and the width of the aluminum and polysilicon interconnects, among other things, but what the heck. We are far more advance then some Quantum chemist and physicists would have projected back some ten years back.
I think I remember mentioning to you that a chief fine line processing chemist in my brother's lab showed me the equations that indicated they would not make MOS transistor channel widths less then a quarter micron or so.
The general thinking back then [1987 range] (we where doing half micron while the rest of the world was struggling to make 1.5 or even wider), the physical limits where fast approaching the point where smaller transistors using silicon based technology would come to a halt.
And the many things that go into fabricating this dense IC, such as the narrow beam Implant machines, photo lithography, etc., has advance so much. Those outside the world of IC fabrication do not appreciate the level of sophistication required of all the equipment required to produce a IC.
It is truly marvelous stuff.