Friday, November 6th 2015

GLOBALFOUNDRIES Achieves 14nm FinFET Technology Success for Next-Gen AMD Product

GLOBALFOUNDRIES today announced it has demonstrated silicon success on the first AMD (NASDAQ: AMD) products using GLOBALFOUNDRIES' most advanced 14nm FinFET process technology. As a result of this milestone, GLOBALFOUNDRIES' silicon-proven technology is planned to be integrated into multiple AMD products that address the growing need for high-performance, power-efficient compute and graphics technologies across a broad set of applications, from personal computers to data centers to immersive computing devices.

AMD has taped out multiple products using GLOBALFOUNDRIES' 14nm Low Power Plus (14LPP) process technology and is currently conducting validation work on 14LPP production samples. Today's announcement represents another significant milestone towards reaching full production readiness of GLOBALFOUNDRIES' 14LPP process technology, which will reach high-volume production in 2016. The 14LPP platform taps the benefits of three-dimensional, fully-depleted FinFET transistors to enable customers like AMD to deliver more processing power in a smaller footprint for applications that demand the ultimate in performance.

"FinFET technology is expected to play a critical foundational role across multiple AMD product lines, starting in 2016," said Mark Papermaster, senior vice president and chief technology officer at AMD. "GLOBALFOUNDRIES has worked tirelessly to reach this key milestone on its 14LPP process. We look forward to GLOBALFOUNDRIES' continued progress towards full production readiness and expect to leverage the advanced 14LPP process technology across a broad set of our CPU, APU, and GPU products."

"Our 14nm FinFET technology is among the most advanced in the industry, offering an ideal solution for demanding high-volume, high-performance, and power-efficient designs with the best die size," said Mike Cadigan, senior vice president of product management at GLOBALFOUNDRIES. "Through our close design-technology partnership with AMD, we can help them deliver products with a performance boost over 28nm technology, while maintaining a superior power footprint and providing a true cost advantage due to significant area scaling."

GLOBALFOUNDRIES' 14LPP FinFET is ramping with production-ready yields and excellent model-to-hardware correlation at its Fab 8 facility in New York. In January, the early-access version of the technology (14LPE) was successfully qualified for volume production, while achieving yield targets on lead customer products. The performance-enhanced version of the technology (14LPP) was qualified in the third quarter of 2015, with the early ramp occurring in the fourth quarter of 2015 and full-scale production set for 2016.
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28 Comments on GLOBALFOUNDRIES Achieves 14nm FinFET Technology Success for Next-Gen AMD Product

#1
btarunr
Editor & Senior Moderator
That's right, Zen will be made in upstate New York. Finally a CPU you can put in your desktop that has "Made in the USA" printed on it, and not Costa Rica or Malaysia.
Posted on Reply
#3
RCoon
btarunrThat's right, Zen will be made in upstate New York. Finally a CPU you can put in your desktop that has "Made in the USA" printed on it, and not Costa Rica or Malaysia.
I prefer my CPUs Asian-made. More exotic and open to experimentation than their American counterparts.
Posted on Reply
#4
the54thvoid
Intoxicated Moderator
RCoonI prefer my CPUs Asian-made. More exotic and open to experimentation than their American counterparts.
It's New Yoik man - it's quintessentially a different culture.
Posted on Reply
#5
btarunr
Editor & Senior Moderator
RCoonI prefer my CPUs Asian-made. More exotic and open to experimentation than their American counterparts.
You should write.
Posted on Reply
#6
gaximodo
Looks like AMD has everything prepared for the Zen come back :D
Posted on Reply
#7
FordGT90Concept
"I go fast!1!11!1!"
Except time. AMD only has 2-3 quarters on 14nm before Intel moves to 10nm. That's assuming no timelines slip.

I'm sure Kaby Lake (Skylake refresh) is Intel's response to Zen. It might be a huge step up from Skylake in terms of transistor count.
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#8
64K
This is good news to me. I'm expecting a big leap in performance from Arctic Islands over Fiji.

I'm still a little skeptical on the CPU side of things. Intel outspends AMD 10 to 1 on R&D.
Posted on Reply
#9
FordGT90Concept
"I go fast!1!11!1!"
64KIntel outspends AMD 10 to 1 on R&D.
Didn't stop Athlon, or Athlon XP, or Athlon 64, or Athlon 64 X2. AMD is capable of miracles once in a while. ;)
Posted on Reply
#10
64K
FordGT90ConceptDidn't stop Athlon, or Athlon XP, or Athlon 64, or Athlon 64 X2. AMD is capable of miracles once in a while. ;)
Yes, but AMD was in much better financial shape back then and I suspect they were spending a lot more on R&D then also.
Posted on Reply
#11
Hillbilly
btarunrThat's right, Zen will be made in upstate New York. Finally a CPU you can put in your desktop that has "Made in the USA" printed on it, and not Costa Rica or Malaysia.
Hopefully Zen is a success and keeps folks working.
Posted on Reply
#12
GC_PaNzerFIN
btarunrThat's right, Zen will be made in upstate New York. Finally a CPU you can put in your desktop that has "Made in the USA" printed on it, and not Costa Rica or Malaysia.
Sorry, but I think it is going to say:

"DIFFUSED IN USA"
"MADE IN MALAYSIA"

:)
Posted on Reply
#13
RejZoR
FordGT90ConceptDidn't stop Athlon, or Athlon XP, or Athlon 64, or Athlon 64 X2. AMD is capable of miracles once in a while. ;)
Not miracles, engineering marvels.
Posted on Reply
#14
ISI300
Let's hope they deliver. I would so build an all AMD rig if and only if they come within spitting distance of Intel.
But servers are the bread and butter of CPU makers like Intel and AMD (and apparently even Qualcomm), so what AMD really needs to boost money flow is some nice design sins in server space.
RejZoRNot miracles, engineering marvels.
Reminds me of RV770, Cypress, Tahiti (new node process as well as massively overhauled architecture), K6, etc, etc. It's been a while though...
Posted on Reply
#15
btarunr
Editor & Senior Moderator
GC_PaNzerFINSorry, but I think it is going to say:

"DIFFUSED IN USA"
"MADE IN MALAYSIA"

:)
Unlike Dresden, New York fab isn't just a wafer-factory, it also handles bumping/packaging. I can't seem to find the sauce for that.
Posted on Reply
#16
ssdpro
FordGT90ConceptI'm sure Kaby Lake (Skylake refresh) is Intel's response to Zen. It might be a huge step up from Skylake in terms of transistor count.
Kaby Lake will not be a major jump in performance and usage as a response platform is unlikely. From the many articles, Intel has already said it will remain 14nm and will be more like Devil's Canyon was to Haswell. At this point it doesn't even appear a new major chipset will be used (unlike Haswell's original 8 series and the 9 series that released with DC). Intel has shown slides for Cannonlake utilizing the "new" 200 series chipset. Kaby will offer performance gains but more like i7-4770K to i7-4790K. There is always the possibility it is more obscure like Broadwell, but i doubt Intel would decrease performance at this time.

Kaby is too close (relatively speaking) to be used as a response if necessary but I imagine Cannonlake would receive the adjustment if Zen is worthy of response (and I HOPE it is as that is good for everyone).
Posted on Reply
#17
R-T-B
btarunrUnlike Dresden, New York fab isn't just a wafer-factory, it also handles bumping/packaging. I can't seem to find the sauce for that.
Is it one of the facilities GloFo acquired from IBM? The ones near Fishkill, New York? If so, it is most certainly what you describe. Wasn't long ago those facilities were making G5's and PPC processors, some of the last totally american made chips.
Posted on Reply
#20
HumanSmoke
FordGT90ConceptDidn't stop Athlon, or Athlon XP, or Athlon 64, or Athlon 64 X2. AMD is capable of miracles once in a while. ;)
Not miracles, merely taking advantage of DEC's mismanagement and ritual disembowelment. K7 owes its existence to DEC IP (including their EV6 bus) and to ex-DEC employees, including Dirk Meyer (K7's chief architect), and Jim Keller.
Posted on Reply
#21
rtwjunkie
PC Gaming Enthusiast
R-T-BSo not the old IBM plants I was thinking of. Interesting, thanks.
No, brand new in Saratoga county, like Ford linked. Heres an article in forbes from last November on it that is VERY interesting: www.forbes.com/sites/rogerkay/2014/11/19/globalfoundries-fab-8-has-come-a-long-way-baby/

From what I understand the plants acquired from IBM throughout NY state and in Burlington, VT all needed retooling and renovation and no way would have been ready.
Posted on Reply
#22
Dave65
Hope this is the real deal..
Posted on Reply
#23
Casecutter
Nice to have them in the mix it should light competition for all involved. New choices can make some uneasy and others seeking divergent path... Should lead to a little less of the me too world we've been having for years. 2016 is going to be engaging!
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#24
zithe
Now I wanna quit fedex and go make CPU's haha.
Posted on Reply
#25
ShiBDiB
I live 5 minutes from the Fab 8 facility and they've been laying people off the past few months. Part of me wants to believe that this will bring some jobs back, but most of me thinks it's just some news trying to keep stock prices from going any lower.
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