The Cellar - View Single Post - February 6, 2008: Two Billion Transistors

linknoid · 02-05-2008, 09:42 PM

It's interesting to see that chip layout. In most pictures of processors I've seen, you can see different areas, but it's not so obvious what's what.

In this case, the large black areas are most likely cache RAM. All those lines running through it are probably busses to communicate with the rest of the chip.

Also notice the symmetry, you can see each of the 4 cores separated by large areas of RAM, and in the center is the controller which coordinates all the cores... or something like that.

I might also guess (all of this is guesswork) based on the layout that the two cores on the right are more closely tied, as are the two cores on the left, and for the right side and left side to communicate it has to go through the middle.

I'm really curious how accurate my guesses are, but I doubt I'll ever find out.

While 2 billion transistors sounds like a lot, it's not quite as intimidating when you consider that that's only about 31000 transistors wide. Kind of like how you can cross a 2500 square mile area in under an hour, because it's really only 50 miles by 50 miles.

02-05-2008, 09:42 PM	#4
linknoid Superior Inhabitant Join Date: Sep 2002 Posts: 74	It's interesting to see that chip layout. In most pictures of processors I've seen, you can see different areas, but it's not so obvious what's what. In this case, the large black areas are most likely cache RAM. All those lines running through it are probably busses to communicate with the rest of the chip. Also notice the symmetry, you can see each of the 4 cores separated by large areas of RAM, and in the center is the controller which coordinates all the cores... or something like that. I might also guess (all of this is guesswork) based on the layout that the two cores on the right are more closely tied, as are the two cores on the left, and for the right side and left side to communicate it has to go through the middle. I'm really curious how accurate my guesses are, but I doubt I'll ever find out. While 2 billion transistors sounds like a lot, it's not quite as intimidating when you consider that that's only about 31000 transistors wide. Kind of like how you can cross a 2500 square mile area in under an hour, because it's really only 50 miles by 50 miles.