Tag Archives: 14nm

GlobalFoundries and AMD have announced this week that they have successfully produced the first 14nm FinFET sample chip. Previously, GlobalFoundries has been licensing Samsung's own 14nm process but it seems that the fab is now ready to make it work alone. This is also good news for AMD, as it …

Recently, we have been hearing quite a bit about GDDR5x, with rumours suggesting that Nvidia intends to use it in addition to HBM2 on its Pascal graphics cards next year. Now it would seem that AMD is also planning a similar move, with GDDR5x rumoured to appear on its new …

Yesterday news spread that one version of the iPhone 6s seemingly greatly outperforms the other. The A9 chip inside of the new iPhone could be manufactured by either TSMC or Samsung, with the former's version expanding battery life by as much as 20 per cent. This news has since reached …

Last year, when Apple launched the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus, the company had a bit of a PR nightmare when ‘bendgate' began making headlines. Now this year, Apple faces a new problem, which is currently being dubbed ‘chipgate'. To put it simply, the A9 processor inside of the …

Intel Corp. has announced that starting from late October it will ship new processors based on the “Skylake” micro-architecture with enabled Intel Software Guard Extensions (SGX) technology. The new central processing units will feature new S-Spec and MM numbers, but will continue to use  the same physical dies as existing CPUs. …

The most affordable microprocessors based on the “Skylake” micro-architecture have finally managed to reach the market. The new Intel Pentium G4500T is now sold in select stores in Tokyo, Japan, and is expected to become available in other parts of the world, making low-cost PCs featuring the latest micro-architecture from Intel …

Hewlett-Packard has introduced its new-generation entry-level Z-series workstations that use a variety of new technologies, including Intel Corp.’s latest microprocessors. The new machines can run serious tasks, yet they feature compact sizes and relatively affordable price-points. The HP Z240 Tower and Z240 SFF [small form-factor] workstations are based on Intel’s …

An undisclosed maker of motherboards has already added mentions of AMD’s upcoming accelerated processing units in the binary of its BIOS. It is highly likely that AMD’s latest reference BIOS versions already include support of the company’s future microprocessors. As a result, mentions of the chips migrate to commercial products. …

In a bid to ensure steady supply of its latest system-on-chips for its new iPhone smartphones, Apple decided to source the SoCs from two contract makers of semiconductors: Samsung Foundry and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. Apple’s new iPhone 6S and iPhone 6S Plus smartphones use A9 processors made by Samsung …

Intel Corp.’s latest “Skylake” processors officially support only DDR3L and DDR4 memory, but there are motherboards for the new chips that can also use DDR3. While the chips can work with previous-gen memory, prolonged usage of such dynamic random access memory (DRAM) can damage microprocessors, according to Intel. DDR4 memory …

Asrock has introduced its new Fatal1ty-branded mini-ITX high-end motherboard for gaming PCs. The new system board is designed for Intel “Skylake” processors and sports numerous advanced features that modern PC platforms can offer. Among the highlights are unique voltage regulator module, extreme overclocking capabilities, HDMI 2.0 connector that supports 4K …

GlobalFoundries on Friday confirmed that the first products to be made using the company’s advanced 14nm LPP [low-power plus] manufacturing technology had been taped out. The contract maker of chips did not reveal any details, but indicated that prototype chips had demonstrated “excellent” performance and yields. One of the customers, …

Manufacturers of inexpensive tablets recently increased orders for Intel Corp.’s previous-generation Atom “Bay Trail” system-on-chips before the company cancels discounts and starts to gradually phase-out production of such microprocessors. Going forward Intel will cease to offer heavy price cuts on mobile SoCs. At present, the average price of an Intel …

GlobalFoundries, which started to manufacture chips using 14nm low-power early (14LPE) manufacturing technology several months ago, said on Friday that its yields exceed its original expectations. One of the world’s largest contract makers of semiconductors does not reveal its actual 14nm volumes, but since the chips are made for customers, …

Asustek Computer this week introduced its Z170I Pro Gaming mainboard, which is desinged for Intel Corp.’s latest microprocessors code-named “Skylake” and provides ultimate feature-set. The platform not only uses high-quality/high-performance components and has rich expansion capabilities, but even features advanced overclocking functionality. The Asus Z170I Pro Gaming is based on the Intel …

Sales of personal computers have been sluggish in the recent quarters, which decreased revenue of PC makers and PC hardware manufacturers. Apparently, Intel Corp. has prepared for slow demand for PCs and significantly reduced shipments of its central processing units in the first half of the year, draining inventory at …

The “Zen” micro-architecture is a tremendously important project for Advanced Micro Devices. If the new technology is successful, AMD will become a viable developer of central processing units again. If not, the company will have troubles with surviving. Fortunately, “Zen” is a completely new micro-architecture that promises to be very …

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. has successfully produced the first samples of Nvidia Corp.’s code-named GP100 graphics processing unit. Nvidia has already started to test the chip internally and should be on-track to release the GPU commercially in mid-2016. 3DCenter reports that Nvidia has sent the first graphics cards based on the …

Nvidia Corp. has slightly changed its roadmap concerning GPU architectures. As it appear, its next-gen GPUs code-named “Pascal” are now due in 2016, whereas their successors will be released only in 2018. Based on a new roadmap that Nvidia showcased at a tech conference in Japan, the company will release its …

GlobalFoundries is working on its own 7nm and 10nm fabrication processes and it does not look like the company has plans to license technologies from the outside. The contract maker of semiconductors hopes that specialists from IBM’s microelectronics unit will help it to design world-class leading-edge manufacturing processes. GlobalFoundries, which …

Advanced Micro Devices on Friday said that Jim Keller, a legendary microprocessor architect, will leave the company, effective immediately. Mr. Keller worked on multiple future generations of central processing units (CPUs) and system-on-chips (SoCs) at AMD, his departure will have an effect on the company’s long-term roadmap, but will not …

Although makers of mainboards tend to start selling their high-end products right after developers of microprocessors introduce their new central processing units, some unique products take longer time to develop. MicroStar International on Friday said that its top-of-the-range Z170A Xpower Gaming Titanium Edition mainboard – which features an distinctive silver colour – …

MicroStar International has unveiled its new mainboard for Intel Corp.’s latest code-named “Skylake” processors that belongs to its Gaming family of platforms designed for gamers, but which costs significantly less than higher-end solutions. The MSI B150M Night Elf mainboard does not support overclocking or other advanced capabilities of modern motherboards. …

Intel Corp. has slightly re-scheduled release dates for its upcoming Xeon E5 v4 and Xeon E7 v4 central processing units for servers. Instead of late 2015, the world’s largest maker of microprocessors will launch its new server CPUs in the first half of 2016. The reasons for the delay are …

Even though Intel Corp. has formally introduced code-named “Skylake” microprocessors for desktop computers, many of such central processing units are still not available. Apparently, Intel only intends to start their sales to end-users in late September. It is not a secret that Intel’s latest CPUs for enthusiasts that feature unlocked …

Due to issues with yields, Intel Corp. had to delay mass production of central processing units made using 14nm fabrication process by almost a year. Instead of releasing enthusiast-class processors based on the “Broadwell” micro-architecture in 2014, the company decided to launch new “Haswell” chips with higher clock-rates. Right now, …

Intel Corp. has done a lot to make its new code-named “Skylake” family of central processing units very competitive across all market segments they will eventually serve. The company also rolled-out an extremely broad lineup of such CPUs for various mobile computers and plans to expand it in the future. …

Intel Corp. has decided to postpone release of its next-generation high-end desktop microprocessors code-named “Broadwell-E”, based on a media report. The new central processing units will be formally introduced in February or March, 2016, not in January, as expected before. According to excerpts from an Intel’s document published by BenchLife, …

Gigabyte Technology has introduced its new mini-ITX mainboard for Intel Corp.’s “Skylake” processors with premium features. The new platform supports a number of advanced technologies, including Creative SoundBlaster audio enhancements, USB 3.1 type-C port, 802.11ac Wi-Fi and so on. The Gigabyte GA-Z170N-Gaming 5 mainboard based on the Intel Z170 core-logic with …

China's National Integrated Circuit Industry Investment Fund has reportedly approached GlobalFoundries about possible acquisition or cooperation. Chinese investors intend to take over GlobalFoundries in order to significantly improve Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corporation (SMIC) and make it one of the world’s largest contract makers of semiconductors. China-based Hua Capital Management, which …