Great article about how processors are made!

[Sycthus]

Hi all, I thought this might interest some:
http://apcmag.com/picture-gallery-how-a-chip-is-made.htm?page=1
This article is great, the pictures really help. It is a bit confusing at first, but once you read it a couple of times it makes more sense. Although, I still don't get how transistors work!

P.S.: It shows the making of an Intel i7 quad core, but there is only one bit of silicon. I presumed there would be four, but am I getting it wrong?

 

[Thrax]

Intel released these images as part of a blog post a few months back. There is only one piece of silicon per Core i7 because each processor core is built into the CPU die. Each die contains 4 cores.

 

[Sycthus]

Intel released these images as part of a blog post a few months back.

Ahh ok! :lol: Sorry, I didn't know that. I just found it and thought some people might like to see it.

So actually, quad core doesn't mean you have four processors, you have one processor in four bits?

 

[Thrax]

This article is from 2006, so some of the information is slightly out of date, but it explains what quad core is: http://icrontic.com/articles/quad_core

A couple things to note:

1. Quad core chips that place all four cores on the same die are now said to have a "monolithic die." That means all CPU cores are cut from the same piece of silicon. CPU companies are also working on 6-core (Intel Core i9 & AMD Phenom II X6, 2010) and 8-core (Intel & AMD, 2011) desktop chips that also use a monolithic die.

2. Multi-core processors that combine multiple CPU dies--what the article refers to as an "inelegant solution"--still exist, but they're increasingly rare. Two examples include the Xeon 7000 series (deprecated) which uses 3 dual core dies, or AMD's upcoming Magny-Cours processor which uses two six-core dies. These types of CPUs are now known as MCMs, or multi-chip modules.

3. Writing programs for multi-core CPUs is still as difficult as ever. Quad core processors are as underutilized now as they were when that article was written in 2006.

4. 42nm processors do not exist. In 2006, it was theorized that the next step past 65nm was to be 42nm, but we now know and own chips that are produced at 45nm.

 

[clifford_cooley]

Thanks to both of you for posting

That was interesting articles

 

[Sycthus]

Thrax,
So if I have and AMD Athlon 64 X2 5000+ dual core, is that "monolithic" or "MCM"?

 

[Thrax]

The Athlon 64 is monolithic.

 

[Sycthus]

Thanks! That explains why I only need the standard heat sink for it.

 

[clifford_cooley]

Sycthus - I think you are still confused - You would still use the same heatsink designed for each CPU socket. A different core/die designs would not change the heatsink used. The CPU socket design might change how the heatsink would fasten to the motherboard.

 

[Sycthus]

Yeah but I don't need an extra fan in my case or water cooling.

 

[Thrax]

No matter how the CPU is produced, you still only ever need one heatsink.

 

[Veedaz]

Most heat sinks are made from aluminium or copper or both, anyone know of other metals / alloys that have been used ?

 

[clifford_cooley]

The thermoelectric cooler, or Peltier Cooler, is a solid-state heat pump that uses the Peltier effect to move heat. The modern commercial TEC consists of a number of p- and n- type semiconductor couples connected electrically in series and thermally in parallel. These couples are sandwiched between two thermally conductive and electrically insulated substrates. The heat's pumping direction can be changed by altering the polarity of the charging DC current

read more here - Vigor Monsoon™ II Active TEC CPU Cooling System