Gizmodo: 65nm

Sony: PS3 to Get 45-Nanometer Chips Around June

Mark Wilson — Thu, 05 Feb 2009 16:20:00 EST

According to David Reeves, president of Sony Computer Entertaintment Europe, the PS3 could get a 45-nanometer Cell chip in a few months. From an interview with The Guardian:

We're always looking at ways to reduce costs [in the PS3], replacing the current 65 nanometre Cell chip with a 45 nanometre one probably in middle of year.

So why should you care? Well, the chips should run cooler and at a lower wattage. But more importantly, shrinking the processor to something cheaper to build is absolutely essential if we're ever to see a cheaper PS3.

What we're a little confused about is why it's taking Sony so long to make this switch. Because, according to reports, IBM has long figured out how to make a 45nm Cell. So is Sony sitting on a pile of 65nm chips that haven't sold since last year? [The Guardian via Engadget]

Sony Playstation 3 Graphics Chips Going More Energy Efficient 65nm This Fall

Brian Lam — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 22:06:22 EDT

The Cell processor in ye old PS3 has been getting the 65nm treatment since the holiday, but the RSX graphics chips inside should get the same in the fall, resulting in slightly more reliable, more energy efficient chips. [Kotaku]

Reports of Mac mini Demise Greatly Exaggerated

Wilson Rothman — Fri, 21 Mar 2008 18:30:00 EDT

Contrary to earlier reports, Kasper at AppleInsider is now saying that the Mac mini has a long life ahead of it. Well, at least 12 months worth. According to his sources, "A small team of engineers have recently been tasked with gutting the diminutive desktop and applying fresh internals." Such as...?

The current 65nm chips will be tossed in favor of 45nm Core 2 Duos, starting with 2.1GHz, 3MB of shared L2 cache, 800MHz front-side bus and a better integrated graphics processor, namely the same Intel GMA X3100 found in today's 13" MacBooks. (Kasper is also reporting rumors of a similar bump up for iMacs, which would get pimp Penryns as nice as the 2.8GHz Core 2 Extreme.)

We have to ask, though, who still wants a mini? And more importantly, will the price ever drop below $500? I'd probably rather take an older $400 mini than a brand new Intel-awesome-o-fied $700 one. [AppleInsider]

Intel Planning 6-Core "Dunnington" Microprocessor

Haroon Malik — Sat, 23 Feb 2008 13:08:09 EST

According to the chaps at the Eclipse Developer's Journal (EDJ), Intel is planning a six-core microprocessor, which will go by the Dunnington moniker.

The six-core beast will be succeeded by the even meatier, Nehalem micro-architecture, which will support greater than eight cores. The work regarding the Dunnington project is still under wraps, but our friends at EDJ insist Intel has already put together a die, the size of a postage stamp, with three dual-core 45nm Penryn chips on it sharing a 16MB L3 cache. Allegedly, we'll see the Dunnington in either Q2 or Q3, this year—we'll be sure to keep you posted on any developments. [EDJ via The Inquirer]

Nvidia to Launch GeForce 9 in February?

Sean Fallon — Fri, 30 Nov 2007 16:59:31 EST

According to DigiTimes sources, Nvidia is planning on rolling out GeForce 9 this February. They also noted that the first chip in the family will be the 65nm D9E —complete with support for DirectX 10.1 and Shader Model 4.1. As with all rumors, this should be taken with a grain of salt, so I wouldn't put your holiday plans for the 8800GTs on the backburner just yet. [DigiTimes via RegHardware via Gearfuse]

Rumor: XBox 360 "Jasper" Motherboard Set For 8/08 Release

Sean Fallon — Wed, 10 Oct 2007 17:50:37 EDT

According to Dean Takahashi of the Mercury News, Microsoft is developing a new motherboard codenamed "Jasper." The upgrade promises to shrink the ATI graphics chip to 65nm and reduce the size of the memory chips as well. If true, this could reduce build costs and the heat problems that have plagued the 360. Although Takahashi notes that Microsoft believes they already have the heat situation under control. The upgrade is expected in August of '08. [Kotaku]

Intel Plans Move From 45nm to 32nm Chips

blongo3 — Wed, 19 Sep 2007 15:12:17 EDT

Intel's 45nm Penryn chips aren't even out yet and they're talking about going smaller. Yesterday at their Developers Forum, CEO Paul Otellini, showed off a 300mm wafer built using an impresive 32nm process. Each 32nm chip will contain over 1.9 billion transistors. That's more than 1.4 billion extra transistors compared with the 65nm chips that we have now. [PCWorld]

No 65nm Falcons Lurking Inside of New HDMI Xbox 360s

Matt Buchanan — Tue, 14 Aug 2007 09:45:30 EDT

While our hopes were never high, we wished nonetheless that the new HDMI Xbox 360 Premiums would also come packed with the elusive cooler 65nm process chipset ("Falcon") we've been drooling into our pillows over at night. Our slobbery dreams have been shattered by "wonderkins," a NeoGAF member who busted open his shiny new HDMI 360 to reveal what appears to be "Zephyr" guts. But, it does have a quieter Benq DVD drive. Hey, it's something. [NeoGAF via Kotaku]

Xbox 360 CPU Possibly Going 45nm in late 2008, early 2009

Jason Chen — Wed, 01 Aug 2007 13:00:57 EDT

We still haven't gotten 65nm Xbox 360 processors, and there's already talk of Microsoft's contracted Singaporean chip manufacturer moving on to designing 45nm CPUs for gaming devices. Why is this important? Because the smaller the CPU fabrication size is (90nm vs 65nm vs 45nm), the less power it takes to run and the less heat it generates (theoretically).

The same Singaporean chip manufacturer, Chartered Semiconductor Manufacturing, has been making 65nm chips for two quarters now. This probably means Xbox 360s will go 65nm fairly soon, but will have to wait about 18 months or so to get to the 45nm threshold. Will it actually make a difference? From what we heard, most of the overheating problems came from the GPU, not the CPU, which is what lead to the added cooling in the Elite version recently. [PCAdvisor]

AMD's New Chips Leak

Mark Wilson — Tue, 24 Jul 2007 10:47:56 EDT

AMD has been surprisingly quiet with their 65nm chips, and now we might know why. The company seems to be having problems with leakage in their new processors, a common problem with shrinking components, where electricity can literally burrow out of a semiconductor and even blow entire circuits. Hit the link for the test results that are brining people to this conclusion. I'm no expert microprocessor/electricity/counting expert, but I know big, bad numbers when I see them. [test via theinquirer]

Xbox 360 GPU Goes 65nm this Fall

Jason Chen — Mon, 30 Apr 2007 14:20:37 EDT

The rumors of Microsoft's Xbox 360 CPU going to a 65nm manufacturing process have been bouncing around for months, but we haven't heard much about the GPU yet. However, Digitimes (who also said the 65nm CPUs were delayed until mid '07) reports that Chinese-language paper Commercial Times claims the upgraded GPUs are coming in the fall and will be manufactured by Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company.

So for you guys who made a little wish to your fairy godmother that the Xbox 360 Elite was going to have cooler parts, you may want to wait until fall. And for those of you who already purchased an Elite? We're sorry. – Jason Chen

Xbox 360 GPU to go to 65nm in fall, TSMC to see side benefits, says paper [Digitimes]

Intel Gets More Aggressive, Pentium Prices to Plummet

Charlie White — Fri, 09 Jun 2006 12:14:44 EDT

Chip giant Intel Corp. took the gloves off yesterday, announcing that it's going to be able to cut prices on its older chips faster because of its implementation of more-efficient manufacturing technologies. As Intel moves into a fourth factory it's built, it will be easier for the company to quickly ramp up to more 65-nanometer Core architecture products by the end of the year. According to Intel spokesman Chuck Malloy,

"We have a more aggressive product and manufacturing ramp, so those older Pentium products will move down faster. It's not like we're cutting prices for the sake of cutting prices."

Although Intel wouldn't say how much of a price cut this would mean, analysts predicted that old-school Pentium chip prices could plummet by somewhere between 8% and 61% by late next month. This will make everything cheaper. – Charlie White

Intel says set to cut prices more quickly [Reuters]

Infineon Rolls Out 65nm Cellphone Chip

Charlie White — Fri, 12 May 2006 12:41:42 EDT

If you thought cellphones were already thin, they're set to get even smaller and more powerful toward the end of this year when Infineon Technologies markets its handset chips that use a 65nm (nanometer) process, putting more than 30 million transistors into an area scarcely larger than a postage stamp. The company unveiled the working handset chips today, and said we can expect to see products actually using the technology toward the end of 2006.

Expect to see this super-dense circuitry showing up first in Samsung phones, because Infineon is in cahoots with Samsung, along with IBM and Chartered Semiconductor Manufacturing, where the companies are teamed up in a research and development alliance to create these 65nm (and later maybe even 45nm) cellphone chips.

Infineon unveils 65nm handset chip [DigiTimes]