Can anyone estimate after tape out , how much time will pass until chips are hashing in AM farm?
I know KNC said on July 30, 2013, that they did a tape out a some time ago, but they deliver the final product only October so i believe there are at least 3 months from tape out to hashing.
Please tell me if I'm mistaken, but we will see gen3 chips hashing and of April, beginning of May. Assuming everything goes smooth.
2-3 months should be considered a realistic minimum between tape out and deployment for normal production runs (ie without paying extra for hotlots) and assuming no serious issues anywhere with either design or supply chain. Hot lots might shave a few weeks off that, but reality usually adds more.
OTOH, if this chip will be 20nm like KnC's latest announcement, it might be considerbly longer. 20nm mask creation is slower due to the need for double patterning, and the whole process is still very new and not as well understood as mature processes. For a 20nm product anything before early Q3 seems extremely optimistic to me. (That also applies to KnC, Im not buying their Q1/2 claims).
FWIW.