TSMC Announces N4P Process As Value N3 Alternative For 2023

By reading this site you agree to our cookie policy. Click to find out more. [x] HOME TECH GAMING BUSINESS CONSUMER MOBILE HEXUS.TV COMPETITIONS FORUMS SEARCH You are here: Industry Components News 4

Contract chipmaker TSMC has announced a new manufacturing process which has been dubbed N4P. Despite the name, like N4, this is a tweaked version of the N5 process technology. TSMC describes N4P as a "performance-focused enhancement of the 5-nanometer technology platform," and it says it can deliver improvements across the board – with regard to performance, efficiency, and density.

Pondering over the naming/family to start with, there have been five 5-nanometer processes introduced by TSMC thus far. It started with N5, which branched with offshoots to N5P and N5HPC. Then there was N4, which has been improved to deliver the new N4P.

Talking of performance comparisons and so on, TSMC says that the new N4P can offer "up to 11 per cent more performance than the N5 process," but when compared to N4, it is only a 6 per cent uplift. Other comparisons given only the new process vs N5, the N4P being 22 per cent more energy efficient with a six per cent increase in transistor density.

An underlying quality of N4P which may make it more successful/popular is that it also offers decreased complexity, with wafer cycle time cut, as it requires fewer masks. Of course, machine time is money, so this is a worthwhile improvement.

Lastly, N4P is said to be well-supported by TSMC’s comprehensive design ecosystem for silicon IP and Electronic Design Automation (EDA). Current customers can easily migrate from other 5-nanometer platforms, for faster and more power-efficient product refreshes with minimal effort.

Expect the first TSMC N4P tape-outs in H2 next year, with product launches around the same time as N3 (offering full node scaling compared to N5) debuts in 2023, with N4P representing value yet still a very modern solution.

Related Reading

178 Cheer up! It’s not the end of the world…

The time’s they are a changing – and this is true for HEXUS.net too

15 Nvidia CMP 170HX cryptomining flagship listed at US$4,500

250W dual slot blower card is built around a GPU with 4480 cores, 8GB of HBM2e VRAM.

51 Have you ever RMA'd a tech product?

And if so, how do you rate your experience?

HEXUS Week In Review: Asus ROG Strix Arion and Seagate Storage Expansion Card AMD CEO: Global chip shortage severity to ease in H2 2022 Insiders say TSMC has decided to raise prices by 10-20 per cent TSMC's 2nm fab building plans have been approved Nvidia Lovelace GPUs booked in as TSMC 5nm parts

HEXUS Forums :: 4 Comments

Login with Forum Account

User Name

Password

Don't have an account? Register today! Posted by deleted - Wed 27 Oct 2021 15:36 It looks like N4P increases the EUV layers over N4 (as it requires fewer mask layers), which itself does the same over N5. Posted by deleted - Wed 27 Oct 2021 18:19 ……….. If China doesn't invade by then, looks good Posted by deleted - Wed 27 Oct 2021 19:10 Don't worry any cost savings will lead to higher prices for us!The endless consumer Money Tree! Posted by deleted - Thu 28 Oct 2021 07:20

Deleted……….. If China doesn't invade by then, looks good

Biden should lend Taiwan ‘some’ nuclear weapons.

MY HEXUS

Sign in for the best HEXUS experience

LOG IN

EVENTS

• 
• 
• 
• 

ALL EVENTS

INDUSTRY PRESS RELEASES

• 1 Introducing CORSAIR® DDR5 Memory
• 2 CORSAIR Announces Full Range of Components
• 3 Two AOC GAMING mice and a wireless headset.
• 4 AGON by AOC presents three displays aimed at competitive gamers
• 5 Philips monitors launch the new M3000 and M5000 PC gaming monitor series
• 6 ASUSTOR is authorized by the CVE Program as a CVE Numbering Authority (CNA)