Cell BE On 45nm
“At an ISSCC session yesterday afternoon, IBM announced details of a smaller, lower-power version of the Cell BE processor that powers Sony's PlayStation 3. The Cell BE is currently fabricated on IBM's 65nm SOI process, but IBM will soon move the console chip onto the company's much-ballyhooed, next-generation 45nm high-k process.”
The move to 45nm should offer a power savings of 40% as well as shrink the die area down another 34%. The end result is chips that should run cooler and cost less once the manufacturing process has the inevitable kinks worked out. That's a boon to gamers, but we have a sneaking suspicion that IBM cell-based blade servers might also find 45nm Cell BE chips in them at some point in the near future.
The move to 45nm should offer a power savings of 40% as well as shrink the die area down another 34%. The end result is chips that should run cooler and cost less once the manufacturing process has the inevitable kinks worked out. That's a boon to gamers, but we have a sneaking suspicion that IBM cell-based blade servers might also find 45nm Cell BE chips in them at some point in the near future.
