http://www.newsgab.com/forum/ Discussions, rants and raves of a general nature go in here en Sat, 21 Nov 2009 01:39:49 GMT vBulletin 60 http://www.newsgab.com/forum/curves/misc/rss.jpg http://www.newsgab.com/forum/ http://www.newsgab.com/forum/free-all/80528-know-how-intel-processor-made.html Tue, 17 Nov 2009 12:24:29 GMT Sand. Made up of 25 percent silicon, is, after oxygen, the second most abundant chemical element that's in the earth's crust. Sand, especially quartz, has high percentages of silicon in the form of silicon dioxide (SiO2) and is the base ingredient for semiconductor manufacturing.



After procuring raw sand and separating the silicon, the excess material is disposed of and the silicon is purified in multiple steps to finally reach semiconductor manufacturing quality which is called electronic grade silicon. The resulting purity is so great that electronic grade silicon may only have one alien atom for every one billion silicon atoms. After the purification process, the silicon enters the melting phase. In this picture you can see how one big crystal is grown from the purified silicon melt. The resulting mono-crystal is called an ingot.



A mono-crystal ingot is produced from electronic grade silicon. One ingot weighs approximately 100 kilograms (or 220 pounds) and has a silicon purity of 99.9999 percent.



The ingot is then moved onto the slicing phase where individual silicon discs, called wafers, are sliced thin. Some ingots can stand higher than five feet. Several different diameters of ingots exist depending on the required wafer size. Today, CPUs are commonly made on 300 mm wafers.



Once cut, the wafers are polished until they have flawless, mirror-smooth surfaces. Intel doesn't produce its own ingots and wafers, and instead purchases manufacturing-ready wafers from third-party companies. Intel’s advanced 45 nm High-K/Metal Gate process uses wafers with a diameter of 300 mm (or 12-inches). When Intel first began making chips, it printed circuits on 50 mm (2-inches) wafers. These days, Intel uses 300 mm wafers, resulting in decreased costs per chip.



The blue liquid, depicted above, is a photo resist finish similar to those used in film for photography. The wafer spins during this step to allow an evenly-distributed coating that's smooth and also very thin.



At this stage, the photo-resistant finish is exposed to ultra violet (UV) light. The chemical reaction triggered by the UV light is similar to what happens to film material in a camera the moment you press the shutter button.



Areas of the resist on the wafer that have been exposed to UV light will become soluble. The exposure is done using masks that act like stencils. When used with UV light, masks create the various circuit patterns. The building of a CPU essentially repeats this process over and over until multiple layers are stacked on top of each other.



A lens (middle) reduces the mask's image to a small focal point. The resulting "print" on the wafer is typically four times smaller, linearly, than the mask's pattern.



In the picture we have a representation of what a single transistor would appear like if we could see it with the naked eye. A transistor acts as a switch, controlling the flow of electrical current in a computer chip. Intel researchers have developed transistors so small that they claim roughly 30 million of them could fit on the head of a pin..



After being exposed to UV light, the exposed blue photo resist areas are completely dissolved by a solvent. This reveals a pattern of photo resist made by the mask. The beginnings of transistors, interconnects, and other electrical contacts begin to grow from this point.



The photo resist layer protects wafer material that should not be etched away. Areas that were exposed will be etched away with chemicals.




After the etching, the photo resist is removed and the desired shape becomes visible.



More photo resist (blue) is applied and then re-exposed to UV light. Exposed photo resist is then washed off again before the next step, which is called ion doping. This is the step where ion particles are exposed to the wafer, allowing the silicon to change its chemical properties in a way that allows the CPU to control the flow of electricity..



Through a process called ion implantation (one form of a process called doping) the exposed areas of the silicon wafer are bombarded with ions. Ions are implanted in the silicon wafer to alter the way silicon in these areas conduct electricity. Ions are propelled onto the surface of the wafer at very high velocities. An electrical field accelerates the ions to a speed of over 300,000 km/hour (roughly 185,000 mph)



After the ion implantation, the photo resist will be removed and the material that should have been doped (green) now has alien atoms implanted.



This transistor is close to being finished. Three holes have been etched into the insulation layer (magenta color) above the transistor. These three holes will be filled with copper, which will make up the connections to other transistors.



The wafers are put into a copper sulphate solution at this stage. Copper ions are deposited onto the transistor through a process called electroplating. The copper ions travel from the positive terminal (anode) to the negative terminal (cathode) which is represented by the wafer.



The copper ions settle as a thin layer on the wafer surface.



The excess material is polished off leaving a very thin layer of copper.



Multiple metal layers are created to interconnects (think wires) in between the various transistors. How these connections have to be “wired” is determined by the architecture and design teams that develop the functionality of the respective processor (for example, Intel’s Core i7 processor). While computer chips look extremely flat, they may actually have over 20 layers to form complex circuitry. If you look at a magnified view of a chip, you will see an intricate network of circuit lines and transistors that look like a futuristic, multi-layered highway system.



This fraction of a ready wafer is being put through a first functionality test. In this stage test patterns are fed into every single chip and the response from the chip monitored and compared to "the right answer."



After tests determine that the wafer has a good yield of functioning processor units, the wafer is cut into pieces (called dies).



The dies that responded with the right answer to the test pattern will be put forward for the next step (packaging). Bad dies are discarded. Several years ago, Intel made key chains out of bad CPU dies.



This is an individual die, which has been cut out in the previous step (slicing). The die shown here is a die of an Intel Core i7 processor.



The substrate, the die, and the heatspreader are put together to form a completed processor. The green substrate builds the electrical and mechanical interface for the processor to interact with the rest of the PC system. The silver heatspreader is a thermal interface where a cooling solution will be applied. This will keep the processor cool during operation.



A microprocessor is the most complex manufactured product on earth. In fact, it takes hundreds of steps and only the most important ones have been visualized in this picture story.



During this final test the processors will be tested for their key characteristics (among the tested characteristics are power dissipation and maximum frequency).



Based on the test result of class testing processors with the same capabilities are put into the same transporting trays. This process is called "binning". Binning determines the maximum operating frequency of a processor, and batches are divided and sold according to stable specifications.



The manufactured and tested processors (again Intel Core i7 processor is shown here) either go to system manufacturers in trays or into retail stores in a box. Many thanks to Intel for supplying the text and photos in this picture story. or full size images of this entire process. ]]> Free for all minarstud http://www.newsgab.com/forum/free-all/80528-know-how-intel-processor-made.html http://www.newsgab.com/forum/free-all/80526-short-touching-story.html Tue, 17 Nov 2009 12:14:42 GMT A man came home from work late, tired and irritated,
to find his 5-year old son waiting for him at the door.
SON: "Daddy, may I ask you a question?"
DAD: "Yeah sure, what is it?" replied the man.
SON: "Daddy, how much do you make an hour?"
DAD: "That's none of your business.
Why do you ask such a thing?" the man said angrily.
SON: "I just want to know. Please tell me, how much do you make an hour?"
DAD: "If you must know, I make 500rs an hour."
SON: "Oh," the little boy replied, with his head down.
SON: "Daddy, may I please borrow 200rs?"
The father was furious, "If the only reason you asked that is so you can borrow some money to buy a silly toy or some other nonsense, then you march yourself straight to your room and go to bed. Think about why you are being so selfish. I work hard everyday for such this childish behavior."
The little boy quietly went to his room and shut the door.
The man sat down and started to get even angrier about the little boy's questions. How dare he ask such questions only to get some money?
After about an hour or so, the man had calmed down, and started to think: Maybe there was something he really needed to buy with that 50rd and he really didn't ask for money very often. The man went to the door of the little boy's room and opened the door.
"Are you asleep, son?" He asked.
"No daddy, I'm awake," replied the boy.
"I've been thinking, maybe I was too hard on you earlier" said the man.
"It's been a long day and I took out my aggravation on you. Here's the 200rs you asked for."
The little boy sat straight up, smiling. "Oh, thank you daddy!" He yelled.
Then, reaching under his pillow he pulled out some crumpled up bills.
The man saw that the boy already had money, started to get angry again.
The little boy slowly counted out his money, and then looked up at his father.
"Why do you want more money if you already have some?" the father grumbled.
"Because I didn't have enough, but now I do," the little boy replied.
"Daddy, I have 500rs now. Can I buy an hour of your time?
Please come home early tomorrow. I would like to have dinner with you."
The father was crushed. He put his arms around his little son, and he begged for his forgiveness.
We never understand how important our time is for our loved ones. They are the real treasure we have. Try to cherish them. Money can never take their place.:nailbiting: ]]> Free for all minarstud http://www.newsgab.com/forum/free-all/80526-short-touching-story.html http://www.newsgab.com/forum/free-all/80230-celebrities-id-like-see-topless-naked.html Sun, 08 Nov 2009 05:36:22 GMT The Brittwins,Meowzers, or Ladylobo from "Movie Mob"
Alicia Minshew
Morena Boccarin (Anna from V):alien2:
Kelly Osbourne
Erin Cahil (Why not? Two other Pink Rangers went naked! Amy JoJohnson is one of them.)
Milley Cyrus (Only when She turns 18.)
Karen O
Freema Agyeman
Tory Schuler (from Reelschannel)
Emma Lahanna
Stephanie Courtney, Flo in the Progressive Insurance Commercials
WWE Superstar Mileena
T.V. Carpio (Prudence from "Across The Universe")
Ellen Page
Katie Featherstone
Jane Wiedlin (I'm sure somebody's got to have pics of her.)
Little Nell (There are Pics of her with her boobs slipping out, "The Rocky Horror Picture Show" includes some scenes.)
Brienne Moncrief
America Ferrera
Melissa Claire Egan
Either singer from Cibbo Matto
Lia Sargent ]]> Free for all rhpsfan http://www.newsgab.com/forum/free-all/80230-celebrities-id-like-see-topless-naked.html http://www.newsgab.com/forum/free-all/80158-alphabet-soup-game.html Thu, 05 Nov 2009 08:22:56 GMT This game is simular to the song game with one exception. One poster post a song title. The other poster posts a song title beging with the last... This game is simular to the song game with one exception.
One poster post a song title.
The other poster posts a song title beging with the last letter in the first song title.

Example 1 :"ABC" - The Jackson Five

Example 2 :"Come As You Are" - Nirvana

I'll strat this off! (of course)

"All The Young Dudes" - Mott The Hoople ]]> Free for all rhpsfan http://www.newsgab.com/forum/free-all/80158-alphabet-soup-game.html http://www.newsgab.com/forum/free-all/80157-song-game-game.html Thu, 05 Nov 2009 08:11:48 GMT The rules of this game are easy (Like the other one) a poster posts a song title, another poster posts a song title with a word from the other song.... The rules of this game are easy (Like the other one) a poster posts a song title, another poster posts a song title with a word from the other song.

Example 1 :"Another Brick In The Wall (Part 2)" - Pink Floyd

Example 2 :"The Kill" - 30 Seconds To Mars

I'll start this off.

"If You Were Here" - Thompson Twins ]]> Free for all rhpsfan http://www.newsgab.com/forum/free-all/80157-song-game-game.html http://www.newsgab.com/forum/free-all/80155-name-game-game.html Thu, 05 Nov 2009 07:53:04 GMT The rules are easy. One poster posts a name of a person (Famous or not, real or fictional) the next poster post a name starting with the last letter... The rules are easy.
One poster posts a name of a person (Famous or not, real or fictional) the next poster post a name starting with the last letter of the other name.

Example 1 :Moerna Bocarin

Example 2 :Nelly Furtado

I'll start this out.

Molly Wringwald (I'm waching "sixteen Candles" as I type, so sue me!) ]]> Free for all rhpsfan http://www.newsgab.com/forum/free-all/80155-name-game-game.html http://www.newsgab.com/forum/free-all/79867-flu-gonna-kill-lots-vegetarians.html Mon, 26 Oct 2009 00:03:24 GMT Since they use eggs to grow the vaccine wouldn't they not use it? Well besides the fake vegetarians. If you eat chicken, fish, cheese, etc your not a vegetarian you just don't much meat. ]]> Free for all computer2slow http://www.newsgab.com/forum/free-all/79867-flu-gonna-kill-lots-vegetarians.html