ATI R580 taped out Successfully for a change
 

ATI ENGENEERS are working hard to lay to rest the ghosts of the past. The company experienced many problems with the forthcoming R520 but learned from its mistakes. Shifting to 90 nanometre is not an easy thing to do and it takes, time, effort and money. The R520 aka "Fudo" chip was taped out three times until the company managed to get any reasonable yield numbers. The chip was working fine, but you could not reach high speeds with it, that was the problem and only a few chips per wafer actually worked.

The R520 chip is delayed for a whole quarter now and this has given ATI enough time to prepare for its next step, the R580 chip. The R580 is done by a separate team from the one making R520, with both teams working independently.

http://www.theinquirer.net/?article=25802