• Competitor rules

    Please remember that any mention of competitors, hinting at competitors or offering to provide details of competitors will result in an account suspension. The full rules can be found under the 'Terms and Rules' link in the bottom right corner of your screen. Just don't mention competitors in any way, shape or form and you'll be OK.

Intel Core i3s on TSMC 5nm this year, i5 and more on TSMC 3nm in 2022

Soldato
Joined
19 Dec 2003
Posts
7,211
Location
Grimsby, UK
PC Gamer said:
Intel will begin shifting its production of consumer CPUs to TSMC later this year. So says market intelligence outfit, TrendForce.

TrendForce's sources say that Intel will first outsource Core i3 CPUs to TSMC in the second half of this year using TSMC's 5nm process, as used by Apple in its latest iPhone and MacBook chips. Next year, Intel will then move its higher performance models to TSMC's upcoming 3nm node.

due to its ongoing problems with its new 10nm production node and also with the 7nm node intended to succeed it. But it's the first we've heard of plans for specific processors and detailed time frames.

If the report is true, the immediate question is what chips, exactly, will move to TSMC 5nm later this year? Intel has always said its radical new Alder Lake hybrid CPUs will be built in-house on 10nm tech. That was confirmed on Monday with a demo of Alder Lake running on what Intel characterised as an 'enhanced superfin 10nm process.

With Alder Lake due out later this year, the question is whether Intel is splitting Alder Lake between TSMC and its own fabs or whether the mooted i3 processors will be based on a previous architecture.

We'd bet on the latter, perhaps with something along the lines of a quad-core Cove-based CPU with internals similar to Tiger Lake or Rocket Lake being sent to TSMC. Then in late 2022, Intel could respin Meteor Lake, the successor to Alder Lake, for TSMC 3nm.

Anyway, all of this is very much TBC. But it aligns with everything we know about Intel's current woes and increasing indications that it will have to outsource at least some CPU production to stay competitive with an increasingly on-form AMD.
Sources: https://www.pcgamer.com/intel-to-begin-shifting-cpu-production-to-tsmc-later-this-year/ / http://www.trendforce.com/presscenter/news/20210113-10651.html
 
Associate
Joined
8 Oct 2020
Posts
2,281
This must be pretty expensive for them; assume it's so that they can rebuild their own fab. At least they got rid of that garbage CEO.
 
Soldato
Joined
29 May 2005
Posts
4,896
If this is true, intel is grabbing 5nm to curtail availability to AMD for their Zen4 parts surely rather than really seriously outsourcing their fab.

if they are serious about this why not move the entire line up off.
 
Associate
Joined
8 Oct 2020
Posts
2,281
If this is true, intel is grabbing 5nm to curtail availability to AMD for their Zen4 parts surely rather than really seriously outsourcing their fab.

if they are serious about this why not move the entire line up off.

TSMC aren’t going to snub one of their biggest customers. Intel will get the scraps or they’ll scale up, which is what they’re already doing anyway.

Intel are doing this because they’re unable to do it themselves. Their foundry uses an inferior approach and requires an overhaul to suit their new roadmap.
 
Associate
Joined
29 Sep 2014
Posts
1,696
Location
Caithness , Wick
So bascily the high end is in the same position , you'd of thought those on an i5 or i3 would be less inclined to care about the node. Why not push the halo products on to those fabs first. Sales trickle down the stack not up...
 
Soldato
Joined
29 May 2005
Posts
4,896
TSMC aren’t going to snub one of their biggest customers. Intel will get the scraps or they’ll scale up, which is what they’re already doing anyway.

Intel are doing this because they’re unable to do it themselves. Their foundry uses an inferior approach and requires an overhaul to suit their new roadmap.
i thought Apple and other phoen chip makers are TSMC's biggest 5nm customer. AMD might be a player in desktop world, but their volume pales in comparison with phone chips and other chip makers.
 
Associate
Joined
8 Oct 2020
Posts
2,281
i thought Apple and other phoen chip makers are TSMC's biggest 5nm customer. AMD might be a player in desktop world, but their volume pales in comparison with phone chips and other chip makers.

In terms of AMD's business with TSMC, desktop chips are it's smallest allocation. Remember that AMD supply the CPU and GPU for both the PS5 and Xbox Series X, as well as a fairly large server market - this is likely why RDNA2 availability has been garbage as it's low priority.
 
Soldato
Joined
29 May 2005
Posts
4,896
In terms of AMD's business with TSMC, desktop chips are it's smallest allocation. Remember that AMD supply the CPU and GPU for both the PS5 and Xbox Series X, as well as a fairly large server market - this is likely why RDNA2 availability has been garbage as it's low priority.
that is true, forgot about the console. AMD GPU in desktop is tiny sale volume tho.

Apple sold 15mil iphones in 2020 - a lot of processors :) - i am a little surprised it is only 15million tbh...i would have thought it will at least be 10x that number. but hey-ho
 
Associate
Joined
21 Oct 2011
Posts
261
that is true, forgot about the console. AMD GPU in desktop is tiny sale volume tho.

Apple sold 15mil iphones in 2020 - a lot of processors :) - i am a little surprised it is only 15million tbh...i would have thought it will at least be 10x that number. but hey-ho

And the rest
image
 
Associate
Joined
12 Jan 2003
Posts
1,996
Why would they use their allocation of 5nm for an entry level chip?! Would seem an unusual move.
Is 3nm in 2023 ambitious? When are the higher end ARM processors moving to 3nm?

Guessing with the i3 v high end, it's a timing thing. Better to wait for 3nm and get i5 & i7 straight on there instead of redesigning now for 5nm only to start again for 3nm in a years time.
i3 can stay on 5nm for the rest of it's lifespan.
 
Soldato
Joined
29 May 2005
Posts
4,896
Why would they use their allocation of 5nm for an entry level chip?! Would seem an unusual move.
Is 3nm in 2023 ambitious? When are the higher end ARM processors moving to 3nm?

Guessing with the i3 v high end, it's a timing thing. Better to wait for 3nm and get i5 & i7 straight on there instead of redesigning now for 5nm only to start again for 3nm in a years time.
i3 can stay on 5nm for the rest of it's lifespan.

they cant produce low end chip at a decent production cost because of yield.

low end chip usually have a much larger volume due to OEM demand.
 
Associate
Joined
12 Jan 2003
Posts
1,996
they cant produce low end chip at a decent production cost because of yield.

low end chip usually have a much larger volume due to OEM demand.
But they are struggling to compete at the high end due to core number / power consumption... Anyway should be interesting times as a consumer. Looking forward to more competition & availability sometime in 2022 :D
 

Deleted member 209350

D

Deleted member 209350

that is true, forgot about the console. AMD GPU in desktop is tiny sale volume tho.

Apple sold 15mil iphones in 2020 - a lot of processors :) - i am a little surprised it is only 15million tbh...i would have thought it will at least be 10x that number. but hey-ho

You thought apple would have sold 150million phones in 1 year?

What kind of weird apple sheep dream world are you living in?
 
Man of Honour
Joined
13 Oct 2006
Posts
90,805
The funny thing is - if Intel just re-spun Ivy Bridge-EP on TSMC 7nm, gave it a few IPC tweaks, PCI-e gen 4 and full NVME support, even with just DDR3, it would take a dump on pretty much anything out at the moment.
 
Soldato
Joined
28 May 2007
Posts
18,190
The funny thing is - if Intel just re-spun Ivy Bridge-EP on TSMC 7nm, gave it a few IPC tweaks, PCI-e gen 4 and full NVME support, even with just DDR3, it would take a dump on pretty much anything out at the moment.

The funny thing is, it wouldn’t.
 
Back
Top Bottom