| Squilliam said:
Yields are a closely guarded secret. So really inferring Xbox CPU/GPU yields from information on other processes, which is at best a good estimate isn't going to give you an accurate picture. So really, if you want to back up your earlier statement tell me your estimated cost for both the Xenon and the Xenos Cpu given your estimated yields and the die size can be found on http://www.anandtech.com/gadgets/showdoc.aspx?i=3152&p=3 as well as pictures of the internal components. So what I really want to know is this. How much does it cost for each Wafer, how many chips/working chips can be produced on every wafer and the packaging and testing costs which should yield the price per chip. To help you out the GPU is produced on TSMCs 80nm process and the CPU is produced on TSMCs 65nm process. |
The link you provided only seems to shows that MS went from a three phase to a two phase power regulator circuit. Saves you two mosfets/capacitors/coils = $2 on the new motherboards, if you really wanted to know.
What you really want to know is what any fab is never going to tell you. Imagine a machine where you put in a wafer and $10'000 on one end and on the other end, you get chips out. Die sizes are known for the chips so you can approximately calculate how many chips fall out of the other end. How many of those chips are actually working? They're not going to tell you. From the initial runs of cell processor chips, IBM was quoted at around 14% for 8 SPE chips and around 34% for 7 SPE chips (the ones used in the PS3). Rumour has it that initial runs of X360 processor chips were even lower than for cell chips... Technically, all "big chips" used in the PS3/XBox should not cost more than $40 to manufacture once the problems are solved.
