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FAB 38 can do 20,000 45nm wafers a month

by on22 April 2008


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A lot of "Stars"


At its Q1 2008 financial conference call, AMD revealed that it can produce up to 20,000 45nm wafers in its FAB 38. The production is supposed to start in the summer time, but the real volume production starts in Q4 2008. FAB 38 is still under construction.  


AMD also said that its 45nm quad-core parts will bring an improvement to the transistors, which usually means that a smaller transistor is a bit faster and it will bring some improvements in power consumption and, of course, in power dissipation. Dirk Meyer said that 45nm will also bring more functions to the die, which is important in the server market, and he confirmed the above mentioned transistor and power improvement.

There is a lot of space where AMD can improve in the operational execution, as it currently produces zero 45nm “Stars” quad-cores and as of summertime, most likely in Q3. it'll start the production of 45nm "Stars"-based wafers.

When it comes to the retail/e-tail market, you won't see any 45nm until Q4 2008 and October, the first month of Q4, looks really far away right now. AMD still has two slow quarters to survive until it starts selling 45nm quad-cores. This won’t be an easy year for AMD.

Last modified on 22 April 2008
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