ATI to Build 28nm Graphics Chips at Globalfoundries

From X-bit Labs: ATI, graphics business unit of Advanced Micro Devices, will use 28nm HKMG manufacturing process of Globalfoundries to make graphics processors. AMD is obliged to use Globalfoundries to make graphics chips, but the company has not disclosed any concrete plans after the contract manufacturer cancelled its 32nm bulk fabrication process.

“The first intersection of our AMD GPUs and Globalfoundries are on the 28nm. We haven’t been public with respect to any timing there,” said Dirk Meyer, chief executive officer of AMD, during a quarterly conference call with financial analysts.

Globalfoundries is projected to start making commercial chips at 28nm node sometime in 2011, presumably early in the year. However, this does not mean that ATI will be ready with 28nm graphics processing units early next year.

Globalfoundries’ 28nm fabrication process will be available in two variants:

* The 28nm-HP (High Performance) variant will be optimized for leading-edge applications in such areas as graphics, game consoles, storage, networking and media encoding.
* The 28nm-SLP (Super Low Power) variant is optimized for wireless mobile applications such as baseband, application processors, and other handheld functions that require long battery lifetime.

View: Article @ Source Site