Are you buying a NV40 on it´s release? Think again...

A

AMDoido

Limp Gawd
Joined
Sep 8, 2002
Messages
195
"TODAY'S Taiwan Economic News is claiming that some large customers of IBM Micro, including Nvidia, Qualcomm, Cisco and Xilink, are fleeing the Big Blue coop and giving their business to TSMC and UMC.

This is odd. IBM Microelectronics, to the best of our knowledge, is building Nvidia's NV40 graphics processor.

The article quotes IBM's CFO John Joyce as saying that the Microelectronics unit lost $150 million in its latest financial quarter because of defects with the 90 nano and 130 nano chips it's building at its 12-inch fab in New York state."

As i understood IBM is not doing a good work on .09 and .13 chips, and that Nvidia and lots of other partners are leaving IBM and going to Tsmc.

As the Fists nv40 were made with A1 froum IBM with 400mhz, i think it´s really a better deal to wait the A2 from Tmsc with 475mhz..

Btw, does someone knows something about A3?


Source:
http://www.theinquirer.net/?article=15419
 
If they are having high defect rates I would think that it meant they were forced to toss out a higher percentage of the cores they make than they would like, not that it would be any more likely to get a card with a fucked up core.
 
A high defect rate would mean they have a lower yield, as GN stated. Silicon is grown in a circular fashion, where the outside/incomplete dies are tossed out. Then the chips are tested for fatal defects before being tested to work at the desired specifications (often ones that do not can be "demoted"). Whatever is left over, in terms of %, is the yield. It is a tight business so high yields are desirable.
 
This is only relevant to nvidia's overhead in selling the NV40 core, which may affect availibility and cost of the final cards in retail, but will not affect the viability of the cards that get into the chain.

Since the 6800nu (and x800 Pro) is supposed to be a 12 pipe core, this could mean that nvidia is deliberately deactivating parts of cores that had problems in one of subunits to salvage more cores.

Anyway, I don't see where it states that TSMC will Fab the A2 version of the NV40 core. It would probably delay introduction to move fabrication to another plant. More likely, nvidia will use TSMC for the NV41, NV43 and NV45.
 
The Fishkill New York fabplant sounded way too risky and far too ambitious to start with when they first announced it. I mean, they want(ed) to built the thing up from nothing to a 90nm fully producing plant in the matter of a few years.

I doubt they managed to even move the highly skilled employees into the area in that amount of time, nevermind get all the concrete laid.

And I always heard that silicon manufacturing was best built in areas without any seismic activity... being that close to a major center can't be helping things. IE: Intel was talking about manfacturing 50nm chips in space orbit afterall...
 
One problem with these companies moving there buisness to TSMC is that they are Choc a Block with orders already as was stated recently in the financial news, They are not going to bend over backwards for new customers especially Nvidia (Nvidia left them and slated them last year) at the expense of there current customers, one of which is ATI (real big customer).

Also another point id like to bring up is, what does this mean for the next crop of consoles as all of them have 1 part or another being developed at IBM, this could push prices through the roof.
 
Remember that this came from The Inquirer, which is fine for video card rumors. However, news of this nature could incur MASSIVE financial loss to many corporations who depend on IBM which means if it is true it will make headlines in the financial market, which it hasn't. ( not saying it won't, but it has not )
 
It wouldn't be too bad for the XBOX 2 CPU. Even though its rumored they went with IBM for the 55nm design process, there is nothing keeping them there for the actual manufacturing. Of course TSMC would probably look at it with a jaundiced eye.

Nvidia looks like it will have to go crawling back on hands and knees to TSMC. Leaving TSMC in the first place can't be helping negotiations, but if Nvidia is deperate to make chips, they may have no choice. I dont think UMC has .13 facilities mature enough to manufacture the NV40.
 
Doesn't matter to me...I always wait for prices to get to a sane level anyway.
 
I don't think that Nv wll be to quick to drop IBM, the Nv36 tapeout was the fastest/cleanest in Nv's history thanks to IBM, and the Nv40 seems to be jast as good an experience. plus bad yeilds aren't hurting Nv as much as they would at tsmc because IBM charges only for working dies produced, not wafers produced like TSMC.
 
IBM charges only for working dies produced
Click to expand...

Which might be one of the main reasons the chipmaking part of IBM lost 150 million this quarter.

I'm thinking they are just dumping a majority of the silicon in the garbage - which may be saying a whole lot about the quality and quantity of the chips that do make it through.

"Russian component, American component --- All made in Taiwan" - Russian astronaut in space station MIR Movie: Armageddon
 
You all keep forgetting the source of this "news". I highly doubt this story as well based on the same reasons evilchris highlighted above. I'll wait till a real news source reports on this before relying on the Inquirer. :rolleyes:
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top