Processor Autopsy: Electron Microscope Edition

Very neat, the manufacturing processes of these things still boggle my mind. Innovation at its finest.
 
That was a good chip, my sig rig still screams away in the corner folding 100 ppd...I just can not bring myself to scrap a perfectly functioning system.
 
Does anyone else remember the old vacuum tube behemoths, or tape reels, or punch cards? I look at what computers can do today compared to when they began and it amazes me how much people take it for granted. I hear people moan about CGI in movies, like Transformers or Avatar, etc, and I think of how much engineering has gone into the technology capable of producing that kind of realism from a computer. Film that would have had to be cartoon animation or else stop-motion in the vein of Ray Harryhausen can now be rendered visually believable. Video games were non-existent, and now they're visually amazing. Seeing how small the circuitry is in a modern CPU, and that they only cost a few hundred dollars for the most powerful ones available is quite fascinating to ponder when I consider what a computer was only sixty years ago.
 
jojo69 said:
That was a good chip, my sig rig still screams away in the corner folding 100 ppd...I just can not bring myself to scrap a perfectly functioning system.
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I agree with you 100% on not being able to get rid of an old working system.

My Athlon XP on my NF7-S that I built around 8 years ago still works perfectly. Makes me feel better that I am not the only one keeping old gear around!
 
Phoenix333 said:
Does anyone else remember the old vacuum tube behemoths, or tape reels, or punch cards? I look at what computers can do today compared to when they began and it amazes me how much people take it for granted. I hear people moan about CGI in movies, like Transformers or Avatar, etc, and I think of how much engineering has gone into the technology capable of producing that kind of realism from a computer. Film that would have had to be cartoon animation or else stop-motion in the vein of Ray Harryhausen can now be rendered visually believable. Video games were non-existent, and now they're visually amazing. Seeing how small the circuitry is in a modern CPU, and that they only cost a few hundred dollars for the most powerful ones available is quite fascinating to ponder when I consider what a computer was only sixty years ago.
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I remember them all fondly. My only gripe is using technology as a crutch. It still comes down to being a good story or a fun game to play.
 
That is just amazing, I would love to see more of this on other chips. Looks like a futuristic city.
 
jojo69 said:
That was a good chip, my sig rig still screams away in the corner folding 100 ppd...I just can not bring myself to scrap a perfectly functioning system.
Click to expand...

Take a look at what it draws, and then the PPD you could get if you used that much electricity in a modern CPU, you might be shocked.
 
nightwar said:
It's almost art when You look at the die.
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It actually is more of an art these days. Modern submicron processes have feature sizes much smaller than the shortest wavelength of usable light, so you have to use techniques like Immersion lithography to increase your resolution, and mathematical techniques like diffraction and interference patterns to create structures.

This means that chip features no-longer have those clean edges and straight lines you see in the article - instead, they tend to have curved edges and messy-looking structures.

The end result is, the tools to lay-out structures are even more complicated, and it's critical that the tools get things right because nobody can check the mask by-hand anymore to be sure it's right.
 
vengence said:
Take a look at what it draws, and then the PPD you could get if you used that much electricity in a modern CPU, you might be shocked.
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PIII, not PIV

besides, got to heat the shack somehow ;)
 
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