Itanium Rising: Breaking Through Moore's Second Law of Computing Power

In Summary

• Semiconductor costs are not tied into their raw materials, as the silicon itself remains an inexpensive form of highly purified, refined sand. The costs come from the sophisticated machines that can meet the level of precision required in the manufacturing process.

• The ultimate cost of the semiconductor itself is measured in two dimensions: complexity and size.

• Moore's First Law states that the numbers of transistors on a chip will double every 18-24 months, hence the amount of computing power available will also double in this timeframe. Time has proven Gordon Moore's initial prediction as a correct one.

• Surprisingly enough, Moore's second law is economic: that the cost of building plants to create continually more powerful processors ...