AMD Announces Pivot to TSMC 7nm Process

AMD Will Utilize TSMC 7nm Process for CPUs and GPUs

Earlier today, GlobalFoundries dropped a bombshell in the silicon world. Unfortautnely, that is no longer the case, with 7nm largely shelved. Two years ago, the foundry announced plans to skip 10nm and go straight to 7nm. AMD also made plans to follow due to their partnership with the firm. Fortunately for Red Team fans, the company was ready for the change. AMD is now announcing plans to use TSMC for their 7nm process.

Despite spinning off GlobalFoundries, the two firms have been joined at the hip. While there have been affairs with TSMC for GPUs in the past, AMD always went back home. However, with GlobalFoundries 7nm essentially dead, the only options left are TSMC and Samsung. Based on the new agreement, it looks like the company has chosen TSMC first. This still leaves open the possibility of a partnership with Samsung.

GlobalFoundries Will Continue Making 14nm and 12nm AMD Chips

For 14nm, the partnership between GlobalFoundries and Samsung meant that AMD was able to use Samsung as an official backup option. With the new arrangement, the difference in the 7nm process between Samsung and TSMC may prove more troublesome. While both 7nm, the process nodes will be different enough to notice. As we’ve seen with Apple SoCs made on both TSMC and Samsung, there are measurable differences. It will be interesting to see how the company will handle the new dynamic.

Due to their plans for 7nm GPUs and CPUs next year, AMD had no choice but to move from GlobalFoundries. With no fabs of their own, Sunnyvale is always at the mercy of foundries. However, as Intel is learning, fabs can be both a blessing and a curse. For now, it looks like AMD’s 7nm plans are still on track. Hopefully, the company will not have to delay the new Zen 2 CPUs and Navi GPUs due to the recent bug at TSMC.