liqnit

http://news.com.com/2100-1006_3-6085...5568&subj=news

IBM and Georgia Tech have coaxed a chip to run at 500GHz, a record for a silicon-based device, by dropping the temperature to minus 451 degrees Fahrenheit. (-267c)



At room temperature, the IBM-Georgia Tech chip operates at 350GHz, or 350 billion cycles per second. That's far faster than standard PC processors today, which range from 3.8GHz to 1.8GHz. But SiGe chips can gain additional performance in colder temperatures.

i will take this one at room temprature also...

nCaine

heheehh this is reale "cool" thing

__________________

-----------------And if someone gave you a pile of gold, you'd probably complain that it was too heavy-------------------

Mac Daddy

Indeed was going to post this here but adding another link now .. read it this morning on another board


Researchers at I.B.M. and the Georgia Institute of Technology are set to announce today that they have broken the speed record for silicon-based chips with a semiconductor that operates 250 times faster than chips commonly used today.

The achievement is a major step in the evolution of computer semiconductor technology that could eventually lead to faster networks and more powerful electronics at lower prices, said Bernard Meyerson, vice president and chief technologist in I.B.M.'s systems and technology group. He said developments like this one typically found their way into commercial products in 12 to 24 months.

The researchers, using a cryogenic test station, achieved the speed milestone by "freezing" the chip to 451 degrees below zero Fahrenheit, using liquid helium. That temperature, normally found only in outer space, is just nine degrees above absolute zero, or the temperature at which all movement is thought to cease.

At 500 gigahertz, the technology is 250 times faster than chips in today's cellphones, which operate at 2 gigahertz. At room temperature, the chips operate at 350 gigahertz, far faster than other chips in commercial use today.

Mr. Meyerson compared the achievement to the development of the chips used in Wi-Fi networks. It was not until the semiconductor technology used in those networks was produced with silicon that wireless networking become affordable for consumer applications.


Read more from NY Times

__________________
"People who live in glass houses shouldn't cast stones"