THE CHIPPED DIAMOND

Purely by chance and I do not know how but I came across a little article about the future of the silicon, or not so silicon any more, processor.

I was looking up the history of the humble Marshmallow as I have been thinking about it and it must be named after a plant. I wanted to know how and why, lol. I have a pack of Mega Mashmallows right next to me, I wont get into the incident with The Bag Police at the Tescos in Enfield, lol.

Long story short I am eating them as I got into vaping and was introduced to The Marshmallow Man flavour by Joshua at the local London Vape Co. So I was thinking of Marshmallows, lol.

I miss my days from Middlesex University when we used to speak in great depth how both CPUs and GPUs were made. It was sixteen years ago, JESUS, and even back then we knew that as the lithography of microchips got smaller there would be problems.

It was commonly known that due to the impurities of the Silicon itself that getting it down towards a certain point would be hard and its limit was theorised at around 10nm, or nanometres.

In an exact play through of those predicted difficulties CPUs and GPUs have taken longer this time around to go from 28nm to 16nm.

This is the reason why in the past I have been critical of computer tech journalists going nuts over a GPU card that squeezes a tiny bit more ability from it for astronomical amounts of money.

Some companies had the resources to get there somewhat sooner than the others. Before long the materials of Silicon Carbide and Gallium Nitride become commonly used and the transistors themselves had to change.

Now for a very ... VERY long time I have not kept abreast of these developments and I do not have access to a copy of New Scientist every time it s published, as we did at university.

So as I started out this post saying ... I happened across this blog called Chemical & Engineering News where a journalist is speaking to a man carrying diamonds. Not a deal, smuggler or even blood diamonds as these diamonds are grown. On a wafer, or we getting there yet?

It seems a company is keen on using grown diamonds to put across an idea. An idea that involves growing diamond on top of silicon because of its vastly superior thermal conductivity which is 22 times greater than silicon. He believes that eventually grown diamond will replace silicon altogether.

That is a truly bold and astonishing claim!

What with this diamond microprocessor and graphene it seems the very common substance that makes up all living things and commonly abundant, carbon, has some very, very startling qualities.

Sitting there right under our noses this whole time and we did not think to look!

I only hope that the fact that the element of carbon can become graphene is certain instances that it stands to reason that other elements may all have their own situations where there qualities and abilities change radically?

Why you don't think there is just one magical element in in the periodic toolbox, do you?

I wonder what will be first in this instance, a GPU or a CPU?

He himself thinks something along the lines of a Pentium CPU in a five year period? Interesting.

http://cen.acs.org/articles/94/i20/diamond-power-future-electronics.html

A DREAMY SET OF RUMORS

Right now then...

Of late I have been working towards something for several weeks now that is long overdue.

I have also been diving into PC technology of late as well as OPERATING SYSTEMS.

Now I have stated how I liked AMD's Kaveri but that I just wishes it was a smidgen better. I very much like their ideas and I do not listen to other people's ramblings about AMD especially when they're obviously fanboys, uttering things about technology they could not dream of understanding. I stated that had the frequency clocked a little higher, additional 2 cores in CPU and another 4 or 5 in integrated GPU and able to crossfire with an R7-260 this would be very cool.

Now let us remember that they stated that a desktop version of the chips found in the consoles would be released at a late date?

Also recall my ramblings, I think it was this blog but maybe not, regarding the discovery of Graphene and it's highly unusual properties and the endless number of potential things it can be used for?

Well tonight I was researching things all PC related and I stated previously that AMD were for once suspiciously quiet and no announcements about anything coming during 2014, other than the mobile chips that is. I thought about trying to build a system this year, yes, yes I do that every six months or so I know and it's boring, but could not shake the feeling that if I bought an AMD A10-7850K APU that within months, or even weeks, something better would be released? I decided that if not revealed I would have to just buy the better chip on release! Hmm costly possibly? Unless it was six months later or more.

Well tonight I discovered that a webpage they are claiming is AMD's is actually counting down to an announcement?! One smart Alec looked at the source code and found that it states 'the most advanced APU ever.'! That is quite something to announce and the fact that a webpage had been created to start up speculation seems to suggest that it will be something quite unexpected?

Am I going to get to see and hear about the APU I was expecting? Two extra steamroller cores, few more GPU cores and higher frequency?

Let us also remember that there was speculation regarding the die size of the top Kaveri being somewhat bigger than that needed by the included transistors and such?

Now it certainly looks like many little things discovered are building up an interesting picture of possibilities?

On the Overclocked forum below are a bunch of people now speculating as to what this announcement will be. Included speculation includes an AM3+ socket FX CPU with the Steamroller cores, starting this despite the fact that the code clearly states APU. But then there is a picture going about of a Hot Air Balloon with the AMD FX letters on it. Also the FX moniker dues seem to be being used for upcoming mobile chips too?

Also of surprise is that others have linked in the Graphene idea to CPUs like I did and they state that AMD have a license to use it. Someone else takes the piss by starting that yeah like AMD would be able to do that before Intel? Obviously this guy or gal fully understands the complex building blocks that make up computing chips? Obviously he or she has realised that these 3D gate transistors are of no issue to a new substance that only works when it is one atom thick? He or she also clearly knows that Intel would not underestimate AMD after managing to keep way ahead of them several times in the last five years? Oh no wait a minute? Lol!

The fact is that the difference in the sizes if these two companies were just as wide years ago when AMD DID leap ahead of Intel. So any build claims like this ate both naive and made on the assumption that AMD are unlikely to prove them wrong as for 5 years they have been behind. Well I say behind but then that rather depends how you look at it and I do not see it that way. In some non gaming situations Intel is ahead, yes and by a bit of a margin. In gaming they are not ahead at all unless you pair the Intel with a capable graphics card! So odd that gamers bleat on about Intel all the time.

At any rate you can read the discussion below and I am only half way through it and going that someone along the way had some hard or at least convincing evidence on some details?! Damn it I do not even know what today's date is?! Lmao!

Now I am going back to this discussion.

EDIT: Wow first of that is the frst time in a very long time that Google's Blogger App actually succesfully placed my keywords in there?! Thius iwas somewhat bizarre and I could copy and past the keywords elsewhere but they vanished upon posting! Hopefull this is at an end now and I do not have to worry about anything else?! Well except the formatting differences of course!

Secondly I just want to add that how mad this latest announcement of an announcement is! Boy am I feeling relieved right now that I had not gone ahead and started purchasing anything?! LMAO!

I have looked further and read a lot more and there are many guesses flying about as to what this announcement entails but they seem to be missing the simple and few facts we have already regarding this. 

It clearly states "The most powerful APU ever" along with comments about it being ahead of its time. So why people are banging on about mobile Kaveri's is beyond me. Surely it would state 'MOBILE APU' and this would also be an overkill?!

Also I was rather confused at the FX brand naming being used for upcioming mobile chips and think that this is a clue to be honest that should not be ignored lightly.

I stated in the edited text that I was glad I had not purchased anything and rhis is because I am fully convinced it is a desktop chip. I also stated that there was some rumour about how the die size did not match up and this was pointed out by someone on the forums, Seronx.

I was always surprised that AMD never announced a 6 CPU Core APU. I was also surprised that January's announcement had only two chips being released based on Kaveri, along with the drop in clocked frequency if I am honest.

I stated on this blog that the lack of anything to do with the FX CPUs was also a little curious and we all knew that a desktop version of the console chip, or chips, was going to be released 'at a later date'.

This last one seems the most likely in all honesty but I am crossing my fingers very hard for a 6 Kaveri core, 8 would have me pass out me thinks, and a few more graphics cores with a raise in the clocked frequency? I have also been wondering what the differences may well be if the decided to coat the tiny innards of any chips with a layer of Graphene? I mean we are only talking of a ingle atom here after all? Remember its as strong as steel reportedly? That last theory could be a lot quicker to implement, for now that is, than anything more ... adventurous in design?

After all its a known fact that the extremes in tempratures will force the silicon to fail, otherwise known as frying a chip, where the silicon fractures. Coating it in a layer of Graphene may reneder this possibility null and void?

I have no details and nor have a looked it up regarding the substance known as Grapehene and am merely speculating as to the possibilities. I know not the number of implementations that can be made to a processor regarding this substance I just simply realised upon hearing of its creation that there would be.

However an easy implementation of the substance could enable a number of things to take place that would make things radically change overnight?

I for one know that if this does indeed turn out to be the case I will be chewing my fingers off at the base for the other possibilities that could arise over the next couple of years and I am referring to a lot more than just COMPUTING here too!

Reading about Fullerene on Wikipedia was interesting, where Grapned is arranged into a tube like structure that could be used as the pipes within a processor.

http://www.overclock.net/t/1492521/wccftech-amd-launches-a-mysterious-countdown-timer-for-a-possible-new-architecture-gpu-or-product/30