What Does 32nm Really Mean?

posted by Ken Kaplan on February 10, 2009

Today, I got to video record Intel’s first public demonstration of test laptops and desktop PCs running processors built with Intel’s next generation 32 nanometer circuitry manufacturing technology.

I’ll get the presentation video into our Manufacturing video channel soon.

Today’s presentation was dense with technical detail and a product roadmaps filled with code names for future chips that would begin production before the end of the 2009.

Business journalists in the audience asked about what was different, and how would Intel be in a better position because it’s shrinking its process technology even smaller than the 45 nanometer (45nm) transistors used in today’s cutting edge computer chips. The technical journalists and bloggers dug into the gritty details of new design features, why new 32 nanometer (32nm) chips would first be built for consumer desktop PCs rather than server computers for business, and what kinds of performance improvements would we likely see from the new, smaller transistors.

When 45nm chips came out in 2007, I worked with some creative storytellers to do a fun and informative “45nm What Does it Mean.” It helped me explain to my family and friends what it meant that Intel was making the biggest change to the transistor in 30 years.

What does 32nm mean? For now, here’s what I believe it means: transistors keep getting small and better…and Innovation is alive and kickin’!

• We’ll keep getting to see the advent of smaller, cooler and faster running computers
• It means Intel can keep bringing better performance at at relatively the same or even lower prices over time, or what we often hear: extending the benefits of Moore’s Law into the future
• It means more efficiencies and new features can be squeezed onto processors so that computer makers can focus on things like extending battery life of laptops, creating ever sleeker designs and building in new wireless Internet capabilities into every new compute device

Ubergizmo attended the 32nm demonstration in San Francisco today and said:

“For consumers, the highlight is that it will consume less and be faster (surprised?). 32nm also means that more processors can be produced from a single silicon wafer, which translates to higher yields (less defects) and lower prices (in the latter part of the produce cycle)”.

Engadget shared presentation slides and put the demo into perspective, connecting the new technology with Intel’s massive $7 Billion chip manufacturing investment.

My Intel pal Bill Calder says this is an example of what Intel does well: “betting big on the future.”

But still, when I hear 32nm and $7 Billion it helps for me to see before I can begin believing. Over the past 8 years, I’ve seen lots of video shot inside Intel fabs, but this one is awe-inspiring because of the magnitude of the cleanroom and amazing robotic tools used to make chips. This “Invention, Innovation, Investment” video shows fresh, high quality video footage shot inside an giant, cutting edge Intel fab in Chandler, Arizona. Intel CEO Paul Otellini showed it government and business leaders this video today in Washington DC. Please let me know how it hits you.

 

Comments (1)

tagged: 32nm, 45nm, innovation, intel, microprocessor, penryne, westmere