Nvidia confirms that Samsung manufactures the 7-nanometer Ampere architecture

Nvidia’s latest graphics cards based on the Turing architecture are manufactured using TSMC’s 12-nanometer technology. There has already been plenty of information that the upcoming graphics architecture Ampere will be manufactured by Samsung on the company’s new 7-nanometer technology. Nvidia now confirms this in an interview with The Korea Herald, which means that Nvidia is taking a step away from the manufacturing partner TSMC.

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Nvidia’s latest lineup of graphics cards in the Geforce RTX 2000 series is based on the Turing architecture, which is manufactured using TSMC’s 12-nanometer technology. Rival AMD will soon launch both processors and graphics cards based on TSMC’s latest 7-nanometer technology, something that should lead to improved energy efficiency and the possibility of clamping more transistors on the same surface.

Although Nvidia succeeds in achieving good energy efficiency in the Turing architecture of the 12-nanometer manufacturing process, the company plans to take the step to 7 nanometers next year, but then not in collaboration with TSMC. Instead, the company chooses to invest in Samsung’s new manufacturing technology 7 nanometers with so-called EUV technology, Extreme Ultraviolet Litography.

EUV is an improved lithography where shorter wavelengths of the laser are used to etch the pattern in silicon wafers that make up the circuit’s functions. EUV lithography makes the process of circuit manufacturing cheaper and more reliable. Samsung has stated that circuits manufactured on the company’s EUV process are up to 50 percent more energy efficient compared to its own 10-nanometer technology without EUV.

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In addition to new manufacturing technologies, Samsung has also developed new types of transistors that will enable shrinkage to 3 nanometers.

It is not clear to what extent Nvidia will switch to Samsung’s production for the Ampere generation. In the interview with The Korea Herald, Nvidia’s Korean CEO Yoo Eung-joon says that the orders are “substantial”, which may indicate that Samsung is responsible for all production of the Ampere generation’s initial performance cards.

Samsung’s 7 nanometer manufacturing technology with EUV lithography is available now, and the company has also unveiled plans for rolling out 5 and 3 nanometer manufacturing nodes. There is thus room for the collaboration between the two companies to grow if the production of Ampere turns out well. The first graphics cards with Ampere are expected to reach the market sometime in 2020.