https://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/products/sku/236773/...
> Lithography: Intel 7
Very disappointing that we're still on Intel 7. I was hoping for Intel 4 at the very least.
> Lithography: Intel 7
Very disappointing that we're still on Intel 7. I was hoping for Intel 4 at the very least.
So Intel 4 is broadly comparable to TSMC N4.
Browser versions come to mind. I'm on version 118. Which browser? All of them.
The next Intel products, i.e. the server CPUs Sierra Forest and Granite Rapids, which will be launched in 2024, will use the Intel 3 CMOS process.
Like also when they have launched their 14 nm and 10 nm (a.k.a. Intel 7) processes, Intel has difficulties in obtaining on the new process clock frequencies as high as in their previous mature process, which is why they had to use Raptor Lake Refresh for desktops and restrict Meteor Lake to laptops (like when 10-nm Ice Lake was paired with 14-nm Comet Lake).
With the previous 14 nm and 10 nm processes, eventually Intel has succeeded to reach very high clock frequencies after many years of tuning and tweaking the processes.
With Intel 4 they will not have the opportunity to do the same, because they will pass immediately to another process node, since that is their only chance to recover a part of the advance that TSMC has over them.
You'd think West Virginia would pull out all the stops to make something like this happen. They have the space, the water...
e: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=28683036
Columbus is an interesting choice for intel given that it does experience some winter.
Personally I'd say something like WV does seem like a pretty good choice especially if you could get hydro power, it's very very stable especially if you could get a dedicated circuit to the dam with a dedicated turbine or two following your power needs. Age-old tradition for large projects, hydro is a very controllable stable bulk power source. On the downside, big winter snowstorms/etc, mountain weather is intense etc and tbh any blasting might be problematic at these scales. geological stability is already a concern for fab quality, actual mining ops in the area might be problematic.
(I wonder if fracking in some areas would be problematic as well. this could easily be a "bolted into bedrock" type thing. well, bedrock may have some thumping in the midwest too.)
They really optimize for total disaster rate overall, modulo tax breaks and operating costs etc. Winter is a big downside, arizona doesn't have weather other than "hot" afaik. water can be "solved". just take it from farmers.