AMD's production plans

AMD will begin manufacturing 0.065micron CPUs next half of the year, however, the actual product announcements will take place only in Q1 2007. The new 0.065micron processors will technologically belong to the third generation that will combine such technologies as DSL (Dual Stress Liner), SMT (Stress Memorization Technology) and Embedded SiGe. The first two are already used for production of 0.09micron processors and allow speeding up the transistor switch speed by about 24% compared with the “pure” 0.09micron technology.

By adding Silicon and Germanium (SiGe) into the 0.065micron technological process, AMD will be able to speed up the transistor response time by 42% compared with the “pure” 0.065micron process. However, it doesn’t really mean that the frequency potential of the 0.065micron processors will also increase by 42%: the actual frequency boost will be lower, of course. AMD can also use this potential to reduce the power consumption of its CPUs, for instance. I believe that AMD will most likely find a balanced solution with optimal frequency and TDP parameters, unless the Conroe success makes them forget about power saving.