The switch to 7nm process technology will increase the performance of the Loongson 3A7000 processor by 20-30%.
Chinese PC processor and GPU manufacturer Loongson is starting to transition to a 7nm process as early as 2024, despite US sanctions. Tom’s Hardware portal reports this.
Today, Loongson is one of the leading processor manufacturers in China and produces 12nm processors (presumably produced by the Chinese company SMIC), and the transition to 7nm will increase the performance of the 3A7000 processor by 20-30%. Development of 7nm chips will begin next year, and final products will likely not appear until 2025 as chip development takes time to complete.
The company’s latest 12nm 3A6000 processor appears to have the same performance as AMD’s Zen 3 chips; This is pretty impressive considering Zen 3 is a step ahead and made by a more experienced company. However, the 3A6000 is only a quad-core processor, and since the 3A5000 is also quad-core, it’s likely that the 3A7000 will only have quad-cores as well, meaning limited performance gains with a multi-core processor.
The company offers larger processors for servers, and this is where the 7nm process can make a difference. Like AMD, Loongson uses chips with 16 cores each for its server processors. The new 7nm process appears to offer greater density in addition to higher performance and efficiency, and greater density means smaller chip sizes or room for more cores. Loongson’s 7nm server processors could either have significantly higher performance or be significantly cheaper to produce.
The only thing that’s not entirely clear is where Loongson will produce its 7nm processors. Since the order will not be accepted by factories such as Intel, TSMC or Samsung due to US sanctions, the only realistic option remains: Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corporation (SMIC). This factory is China’s largest foundry and there is information that Huawei produces 7nm processors for its smartphones at SMIC.
Tom’s Hardware portal notes that since mass production of 7nm processors will be possible only by 2025, they will be far from advanced. After all, for example, TSMC will have a 2nm processor in 2025. Although Loongson chips are not the fastest in the world, this is another step towards silicon autonomy for China.
Previously Focus He reported that China cleverly circumvented the sanctions and continued to purchase US equipment for chip production. The United States has so far failed to close a significant gap in its efforts to block China’s access to advanced technology.
Source: Focus
Ashley Fitzgerald is an accomplished journalist in the field of technology. She currently works as a writer at 24 news breaker. With a deep understanding of the latest technology developments, Ashley’s writing provides readers with insightful analysis and unique perspectives on the industry.