Hello everybody, i know that a lower manufacturing process means better overclocking capabilities and lower temperatures, but i do not fully understand what it means. When we see that a card has a 65nm process or a 45nm process what does it actually mean? Thanks

This is what I believe, and more knowledgeable membera will correct me if I am wrong. I believe the "nano process!" is revering to the size of the tracks or gaps on a silicon chip. Nano meaning millionth of a millimeter. So the difference between 65nano and 45nano meter process, means that more transistors can be placed on a chip, thus making the chip faster.The process part is merely the manufacturing process, which just makes things more crammed together, in laymans terms.

Or am I way off with this one.

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Derekjerry agrees: nice description

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Hello Derek,

The nm stands for nanometers. That number represents the size of the transistors that make up the core of the CPU. Each transistor is the component that stores the electrons that is used like an on/off switch. Since the transistors are smaller, they consume less power and generate less heat. Less heat means you have more room to make higher temperatures and it's easier to keep cool.

I'm not sure how you can calculate the difference in overclocking capability when you choose a CPU with a smaller die process because when they make smaller transistors, they just put more of them on the die. But I'm sure if you had two cpus that were clocked at say 2.4ghz and one of them had a smaller die process, you'd be able to overclock it more with fewer stability issues.

Here is a pretty good article relating to this subject - 65nm to 45nm: process technology explained | News | TechRadar.com

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Derekjerry agrees: very detailed answer!

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lol Derek, you'll be desiging your own CPU next.

nm stands for nanometer. The smaller these nodes can be made has obvious advantages. When you consider for example, the mobile phone. The first mobiles phones that were released...



...couldn't exactly fit in your pocket, and was not something that you wanted to take with you wherever you go.

Luckily, technology has improved over the years, and mobile phone technology can be found in something as small as a wrist watch thanks to nano technology. So a 45nm manufacuring process is going to have distinct advantages over 65nm, because it is smaller. If it is smaller, it will require less power, which means it will produce less heat. From a manufacuring point of view, it is also cheaper to make, but the equipment itself is extreemly expensive.

This is about as far as my knowledge in this area extends to.

EDIT, lol, Oh I see, you guys have already beaten me to it.

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Derekjerry agrees: very detailed answer and lovin the photo!

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