Intel sticks to dual-die processors

Intel plans to continue making its multi-core processors by combining dies on a single package beyond 2007, the company said at a meeting with reporters in San Francisco.

Intel currently manufactures its quad-core processors by combining two dual-core chip dies on a single chip.

AMD, by comparison, uses a monolithic design where all processor cores are manufactured on the same single die. This allows for memory sharing between the cores, making for faster processors that consume less power.

"When you design the product to be a more coherent quad-core system, then you get improved performance compared to putting two dual-core chips in the same package," Nathan Brookwood, an analyst with Insight 64 told vnunet.com.

Intel used the same dual-die approach when it first launched its dual-core processors codenamed Smithfield and Presler, but quickly created a monolithic die where both processor cores were manufactured together. This time it will not switch to a monolithic design that quickly, the company said.

"This [multichip approach] is not something that we just did temporarily. It's a design implementation choice that gives us real benefit in terms of time to market and volume and cost," said Stephen Smith, vice president for Desktop Platform Operations with Intel.

Manufacturing a monolithic chip is about 15 per cent more expensive than dual-dies combined on a single chip, Smith argued, because of production yields.

Dual core processors have a smaller die size than a monolithic quad-core one would have. Because a percentage of all chips are damaged during the production process and have to be discarded, a large die is more likely to result in broken chips.

As chip production techniques advance and transistor sizes shrink, Intel expects to hit a crossover point where it becomes cost effective to produce single-die quad-core chips, but that can take years.

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