The hardware has been advancing over the years to be as powerful as it is now and all thanks to a constant evolution based on reducing nanometers, new nodes and architectures. Progression has allowed us to achieve better performance and energy efficiency over time, but we’ve reached a point where progress is much slower. We are all waiting to see what TSMC has prepared and now details are given about the performance of N3P and N2 nodes that will bring the next generation of hardware to life.
Decades ago, we saw how Intel processors went from having from more than 100 nm to less than 50 nm in a matter of a few years. This was a breakthrough in terms of reducing the size of the chip and increasing its density. With this came the ability to go from a single-core to a multi-core processor in a desktop CPU size. We’ve been making progress since then, but we’ve all seen a pretty noticeable slowdown in this nanometer reduction.
TSMC increases revenue and employees: the N4X node arrives in 2023
Quite a few years have passed since we had Intel and AMD processors at 14 nm and since then we have managed to drop to almost a third of that figure. Currently, the 5nm are what processors like the Ryzen 7000 and the aforementioned “4 nm” of the NVIDIA RTX 40. It can be considered that this 5nm node from TSMC is one of the most advanced at the moment and soon we will finally have the expected ones 3nm. Despite knowing about them for a long time, it is not until now that more details about the performance of nodes such as TSMC’s N4X, N3P and N2 are revealed.
TSMC Senior Vice President Kevin Zhang has mentioned the great growth of the company, reaching 8,558 employees. What interests us the most has also been shown, the performance improvements of future process nodes. We have first of all N4X that will be launched in this 2023 with a performance improvement of the 17% and 6% denser than the 2020 N5.
TSMC’s N2 will be 15% faster with 30% less consumption than the N3E
Actually, the ones that interest us the most in terms of performance are the nodes of 3 and 2 nanometersthat is, the N3P and N2 from TSMC. But before that, the company has announced that the N3E process has managed to pass the technical certification, so it will be available from second half of 2023. Now yes, let’s go to N3Pwhere thanks to the TSMC table we can see an improvement of 5% performance and between 5 and 10% less consumption With respect to N3E, along with a 4% higher density. We will also have an N3X node that will improve performance by 5% while maintaining the same density.
Now that we’ve seen the 3-nanometer nodes like the N3P, it’s time to see the performance of TSMC’s N2. Regarding this, we can see that the N2 will be between a 10 and 15% faster with a consumption between a 25 and 30% lower and one 15% higher density with respect to N3E. The company announces that it is up and running and production is scheduled for 2025. TSMC will abandon FinFET transistors in favor of nanosheets, which allow for greater energy efficiency.
