blue green core buble burster

[pctuner]

I hate to tell anyone but inside sources at amd have stated that they are not going to use copper in any of there chips t-bird or not untill the 0.13 micron process so for now this is a fairy tail...

[Rob Cork]

I heard that as well - and I believe AMD when they say they're not using copper interconnects in either Austin or Dresden. However, the author of the article I read pointed out that the blue core chips could still have better performance due to the newer facilities at Dresden (basically less wear and tear on the fab machines). From what I've heard, most/all tbirds running 900MHz+ are blue core, so Dresden must be doing something right :-)

[Big Mike]

http://www.amd.com/news/corppr/20110.html
AMD's own press release about Dresden fab .18 microarchitecture and copper interconnects...

[Rob Cork]

Well, can't argue with that. Strange though, the article I read quoted an AMD spokesperson as saying that AMD did not use and had never used copper interconnects - but I'm more inclined to believe the press release you linked to. Thanks for the info Mike :-)

[ReFuGee DaWG]

Best way to find out if your blue chip really HAS copper.... break it.... smash it with a hammer and look at it under a microscope...

i would do this to my tbird, but unfortunatly its a green core.... }>



peace-out,
ReFuGee DaWG

[Mykex]

One problem with that AMD link you have to read the bottom ;)
This release contains forward-looking statements, which are made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Investors are cautioned that all forward-looking statements in this release involve risks and uncertainty that could cause actual results to differ materially from current expectations. Forward looking statements in this release are subject to the risk that the company will not be able to achieve its market share goals due to insufficient acceptance of the company's processor product offerings, due to an unsuccessful production ramp of Fab 30, or due to other factors. There also can be no assurance that the company will be able to maintain or improve production yields or the speed-grade distribution of processors fabricated in Fab 30, **or that the company will be able to achieve the planned benefits of copper interconnect technology**. We urge investors to review in detail the risks and uncertainties in the company's Securities and Exchange Commission filings, including but not limited to the report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended September 26, 1999.

[Rob Cork]

To me that sounds like they're saying they're not promising any performance improvement from using copper interconnects - not that they aren't using them. In the very first line, AMD states the following:
SUNNYVALE, CA - June 5, 2000 -AMD announced today that it has commenced commercial shipments of AMD Athlon processors with performance-enhancing cache memory manufactured with 180-nanometer (0.18-micron) copper interconnect technology from its newest "megafab," Fab 30 in Dresden, Germany.
Note that they say "has commenced commercial shipments... manufactured with 180-nanometer copper interconnect technollogy" - that doesn't sound very 'forward-looking' to me.