TSMC rolls out tweaked 5nm and 7nm processes

AnandTech pulls our attention to the fact that TSMC quietly rolled out a performance-enhanced version of its 7nm DUV (N7) and 5nm EUV (N5) process nodes. These improved nodes enable higher performance, lower power consumption, or a combination of both.

The new N7P node promises 7 percent higher performance at the same power consumption, or 10 percent lower power consumption at the same clocks.

N7P uses proven deep ultraviolet (DUV) lithography and does not offer any transistor density improvements over N7. Those TSMC clients that need a ~ 18~20% higher transistor density are expected to use N7+ and N6 process technologies that use extreme ultraviolet (EUV) lithography for several layers.

Similarly, N5P offers 7 percent more performance at the same power consumption, or 15 percent lower power consumption at the same frequency.