NowYou'rePlayingWithPower
Well-known member
When foundries like TSMC or GloFo manufacture computer processors they aim for creating the highest number of the top tier model processor on each wafer.
More often than not lower tier models like the Intel i3 or AMD Ryzen 5 are actually i9 and Ryzen 9 processors that have been destroyed on purpose using lasers.
Same goes with many GPUs. Less often they didn't have all of their cores working due to the shape of the wafer (round) to produce square shaped chips and were pulled from the edge or had minor defects in one or more core.
There are some exceptions, but not really outside of custom applications. In the 00s and a bit into the 2010s, many were just software locked and you could modify a lower tier GPU for example to become a higher one with software and/or $0.01 voltage mods. So, they started ensuring that you couldn't do that anymore by using a laser to either destroy or cut access to the full silicon.
TL;DR? That $200 CPU started it's life as a $600 CPU.
Y'all have some fun example of this kind of thing?
IIRC, convertible cars often start out as hardtops and are contracted out to companies that cut the roof off and reinforce the body before installing the convertible top.
More often than not lower tier models like the Intel i3 or AMD Ryzen 5 are actually i9 and Ryzen 9 processors that have been destroyed on purpose using lasers.
Same goes with many GPUs. Less often they didn't have all of their cores working due to the shape of the wafer (round) to produce square shaped chips and were pulled from the edge or had minor defects in one or more core.
There are some exceptions, but not really outside of custom applications. In the 00s and a bit into the 2010s, many were just software locked and you could modify a lower tier GPU for example to become a higher one with software and/or $0.01 voltage mods. So, they started ensuring that you couldn't do that anymore by using a laser to either destroy or cut access to the full silicon.
TL;DR? That $200 CPU started it's life as a $600 CPU.
Y'all have some fun example of this kind of thing?
IIRC, convertible cars often start out as hardtops and are contracted out to companies that cut the roof off and reinforce the body before installing the convertible top.