February 6, 2008: Two Billion Transistors

Intel has launched Tukwila, the first chip with over two billion transistors. You won't be seeing this in your home PCs -this quad-core chip will be used in high-end servers. Operating at speeds of up to 2Ghz, this chip is not the fastest kid on the block, but it sure is pretty.

info from BBC, ProductReviews

Looks like a sattelite view of Manhattan.

Go Monster, we've been all waiting with abated breath.
It's a shame, one pair of leather soles and a wool rug, could fry that sucker.

btw... That BBC link has a great, simple, explanation of a transistor and how they work together on a chip.

It's interesting to see that chip layout. In most pictures of processors I've seen, you can see different areas, but it's not so obvious what's what.

In this case, the large black areas are most likely cache RAM. All those lines running through it are probably busses to communicate with the rest of the chip.

Also notice the symmetry, you can see each of the 4 cores separated by large areas of RAM, and in the center is the controller which coordinates all the cores... or something like that.

I might also guess (all of this is guesswork) based on the layout that the two cores on the right are more closely tied, as are the two cores on the left, and for the right side and left side to communicate it has to go through the middle.

I'm really curious how accurate my guesses are, but I doubt I'll ever find out.

While 2 billion transistors sounds like a lot, it's not quite as intimidating when you consider that that's only about 31000 transistors wide. Kind of like how you can cross a 2500 square mile area in under an hour, because it's really only 50 miles by 50 miles.

Quote:

Originally Posted by linknoid While 2 billion transistors sounds like a lot, it's not quite as intimidating when you consider that that's only about 31000 transistors wide. Kind of like how you can cross a 2500 square mile area in under an hour, because it's really only 50 miles by 50 miles.

Yes, but the difference comes in the 50 mph roads, instead of the 10 mph ruts they started with, not that long ago.

Quote:

Originally Posted by xoxoxoBruce Go Monster, we've been all waiting with abated breath. It's a shame, one pair of leather soles and a wool rug, could fry that sucker. btw... That BBC link has a great, simple, explanation of a transistor and how they work together on a chip.

Quote:

Originally Posted by xoxoxoBruce Go Monster, we've been all waiting with abated breath.

tw refers to Moore's law frequently, in the tech section, but many people avoid that, so this is a more likely place for people to grasp it.

Well I've heard of it before too, despite not dipping into the tech forum very often. Apparently, my bachelor's degree is in computer science, but my degree is so old, it was still considered an "interesting statement" then, rather than an "axiom of the industry" My degree is so old, I was one of the first students to get a university email account as standard issue! (1989)

It's an industry thing for engineers and MBAs.

Moore's Law is more of an industry benchmark to determine if the industry is still innovating.

What makes that chip possible is high-K dielectric that Intel took a great risk on in Jan 2006. Hafnium (with some other secret materials) made it possible to replace glass (silicon dioxide) with a gate material that does not leak so many electrons. Less leakage means less power consumption and less heat. This risk and its resulting rewards have left AMD in trouble both financially and in competitive products. AMD is suffering from processors that are either too hot or too slow. The buzz word for this new Intel technology is 45 nm transistors. AMD is just getting to 65 nm transistors.

Intel produces annually more transistors than there are stars in the universe.

Meanwhile, the next generation of processing is multicore. But as Sony's Playstation Three demonstrates, we have a serious problem making software that can utilize multicore processors. Where would be a good place to invest? Who can solve this software problem now that Intel has solved the Moore Law challenge using multicore processors?

Is it just me that sees a cubist representation of a robotic goatse in this image?

Quote:

Originally Posted by nil_orally Is it just me that sees a cubist representation of a robotic goatse in this image?

Quote:

Originally Posted by monster I was one of the first students to get a university email account as standard issue! (1989)

There are a number of "laws" to go along with Moore's law. Programmers and techies of all sorts have a fondness for them.

Here are a few:

Ellison's Law: The two most common elements in the universe are hydrogen and stupidity.

Hanlon's Law: Never attribute to malice that which can be adequately explained by stupidity.

Hoare's Law: Inside every large problem is a small problem struggling to get out.

Occam's Razor: The explanation requiring the fewest assumptions is most likely to be correct.

Cole's Law: Thinly sliced cabbage

But what is that sauce that goes on it? That's where the magic is.

Is this fake-proof picture??? Over 2 billion transistors..??!!
*starts to count every single of them*

(wish me luck)

Quote:

Originally Posted by nil_orally Is it just me that sees a cubist representation of a robotic goatse in this image?

I see this:

In ten years the Tukwilla will be part of a 16-core CPU/motherboard that will fit about the size of that current chip. The board will be used to play iTunes.

In 20 years, the tukwila will be worn as jewelry in a junior high near you.

Quote:

Originally Posted by dar512 There are a number of "laws" to go along with Moore's law. Programmers and techies of all sorts have a fondness for them. Here are a few: Ellison's Law: The two most common elements in the universe are hydrogen and stupidity. Hanlon's Law: Never attribute to malice that which can be adequately explained by stupidity. Hoare's Law: Inside every large problem is a small problem struggling to get out. Occam's Razor: The explanation requiring the fewest assumptions is most likely to be correct. Cole's Law: Thinly sliced cabbage

Quote:

Originally Posted by tw Meanwhile, the next generation of processing is multicore. But as Sony's Playstation Three demonstrates, we have a serious problem making software that can utilize multicore processors. Where would be a good place to invest? Who can solve this software problem now that Intel has solved the Moore Law challenge using multicore processors?

I think the answer will be computer languages (and to a certain extent operating systems) that help the programmer facilitate multi-processing.

Coding for multiprocessing can be incredibly easy - if none of the tasks depend on the other or share resources. But that's not what people are going to want. Most people can't multitask past a few tasks. They want the one or two tasks they're working on to go faster.

In order to take advantage of multiple cpus in that scenario, a lot of interdependence and sharing of resources has to happen. This is typically pretty klunky to do in current languages. I suspect the next big thing in computer languages will be the one that sorts this stuff out.

Quote:

Originally Posted by linknoid I might also guess (all of this is guesswork) based on the layout that the two cores on the right are more closely tied, as are the two cores on the left, and for the right side and left side to communicate it has to go through the middle.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Imigo Jones Link, the middle is called the corepus calculosa.

Quote:

Originally Posted by tw Will you want a left handed or right handed computer?

All that, and they named it after an airport town...

these chips must be fun to build......

Quote:

Originally Posted by linknoid that's only about 31000 transistors wide.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bitman "Only"?? The original 8086 that kicked off the personal computer revolution had 29000 transistors. This quad Itanium is like an 8086 squared.

Uh, do you mean were not born?

Update ...

I understood "Washington". The rest may as well be Klingon...