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Technology Stocks : Intel Corporation (INTC) -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Elmer who wrote (146686)	11/2/2001 7:27:51 PM
From: Noel	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 186894

Elmer, Most designs are metal limited not transistor limited I'm not so sure this is true anymore with 6 & 7 metal layers. It is still true. As the number of transistors increases the number of wires to interconnect these transistors increases too. I was replying to Maui's assertion that doing a redesign just in order to remove the 5-10% transistors attributed to JT will result in a 5-10% reduced die size (3-5% more likely). Anyway I think the point is moot since the validation/verification costs from a relayout would be just too high. It is much easier to just diable JT functionality. Several years ago Intel disabled the math coprocessor on the 486 to create a cheaper part which upset a lot of people. I personally never understood what they were upset about since one pays for the IP inherent in an iA32 processor not the silicon value. Going from .18u aluminum to .13u copper will not be a shrink but a compaction, meaning a complete relayout. That is right. I meant compaction.