Silicon Investor (SI) -- The First Internet Community

STOCKTALK

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor. We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community. If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.

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

To: Dan3 who wrote (148381)	11/15/2001 9:28:59 PM
From: Paul Engel	Read Replies (3) \| Respond to of 186894

Intel unveils world's smallest transistor with 15-nm device By Mark LaPedus, Semiconductor Business News Nov 15, 2001 (12:41 PM) URL: siliconstrategies.com SANTA CLARA, Calif. -- Intel Corp. here today announced it has broke its own record for the world's smallest transistor, claiming the development of a 15-nanometer device that will be used to make microprocessors and other chips by the end of this decade. Intel's 15-nm transistor (gate-length)--which has been devised in the laboratory--is a CMOS-based, 0.8-Volt device, said to handle switching speeds of 0.38-ps--or 2.63 trillion switches per second. Previously, Intel also claimed the unofficial world's record last June, with the development of a 20-nm transistor capable of 0.75-ps switching speeds--or 1.53 trillion switches per second (see June 10 story ). More importantly, Intel's 15-nm device is expected to become a key element in the development of high-speed chips, based on the company's so-called P1268 process technology. On Intel's roadmap, the company's P1268 process is a 30-nm (0.03-micron) technology that will make use of 300-mm wafers. Intel is expected to develop chips based on this process by 2009. By then, the company could have high-speed processors running at speeds of 20-GHz or faster, according to analysts. The development of the 15-nm transistor also proves that bulk silicon will continue to be a viable technology in semiconductor manufacturing for the foreseeable future, said Gerald Marcyk, director of Intel's Components Research Group. "If you look at Moore's Law, we are trying to shrink [the transistor] 30% every two years," Marcyk said. "This technology will take us out at least until the end of the decade," he said in an interview with SBN. The Intel manager was referring to the popular axiom in the semiconductor business--attributed to Intel co-founder Gordon E. Moore--which says the number of transistors in integrated circuits doubles every 18 months due to device shrinks and other chip-processing technologies. Before the end of this decade--or sooner--Intel and other chip makers will face some major challenges to develop ICs with bulk silicon, especially in terms of power consumption, Marcyk said. The challenge is to make devices with low "standby currents and standby power," he said. "Developing smaller and faster devices is not a problem. The challenge is to make devices smaller, faster, and with lower power," he said. Intel faces some other issues as well. The company will continue to embrace silicon until the end of the decade. But it's unclear if silicon will remain a viable technology beyond the next decade. "This is as far as I can rationalize it," the Intel manager said. Copyright 2001 © CMP Media Inc.

To: Dan3 who wrote (148381)	11/15/2001 9:38:38 PM
From: Paul Engel	Respond to of 186894

Looks like nFarce won't be the AthWiper saviour !! theregister.co.uk nForce too expensive for retail, mobo makers claim By Tony Smith Posted: 15/11/2001 at 11:30 GMT The high price Nvidia is charging for its nForce AMD-oriented chipset has forced motherboard makers to steer clear of the retail market, fearing that nForce-based boards will be just too expensive for price-sensitive consumers. nForce boards have started to appear in the Taiwanese retail channel, according to a DigiTimes report, but sources close to mobo makers who haven't yet shipped a retail board reckon that nForce's time may have come and gone. Quite apart from the basic cost of the chipset - around $45, says one DigiTimes source - the part's integrated graphics is looking increasingly underpowered and overpriced. nForce's graphics is pitched between Nvidia's discrete GeForce 2 MX 200 and MX 400 chips. That was fine when nForce was launched, but the arrival of the GeForce Titanium family - essentially clocked-up GeForce 2 and GeForce 3 parts - has forced down the price of lesser chips, including the MX series. Board makers fear that punters will prefer boards based on much cheaper discrete chipsets into which they can plug a GeForce 2 MX 400 board, getting better graphics than a nForce-based board at a potentially lower cost. Of course, retail is one thing and the system integrator market another altogether, and DigiTimes' sources say they have decided to target the latter. 'Name' motherboards are less in demand here, and second- and third-tier will have a better chance of selling boards to PC makers than to the kind of customer who buys retail boards who, we suspect, are more discerning. As such, opportunity, far more than price, may be what is keeping less well-known mobo makers away from the retail market. Price issues certainly don't appear to be bothering first-tier motherboard companies too much. MSI has shipped its MS6367 board, and next month should see the arrival of Asustek's A7N266, Gigabyte's GA7NTX and Abit's NV22. ®