lithography??

[MKSanic]

so recently i have found out abt cpu lithography and have no idea what it means so please explain the difference in 12nm and 14nm. also explain to me what cpu architectures are. also what is zen, zen+, zen2??   please explain to me like how u would to a 6yr old

 

[5x5]

In simple terms, the smaller the node, the smaller and more efficient the processor or GPU core are. The nanometres can be understood as the distance between two neighbouring transistors.

 

As for uarchs, well, you have hundreds on the market. Usually newer ones supercede the old one and are an upgrade, iteration or totally new design.

 

For example, Ryzen 1000 or Zen was the first iteration on 14nm. The next iteration was Zen+ aka Ryzen 2000. It built on the original and you could get more performance and efficiency out of a similar power target and CPU class. After that you have Zen 2 or Ryzen 3000 which was a more drastic change for yet more efficiency and performance improvements this time on 7nm.

 

You also have to remember, all nodes are different. You have Samsung's LP or LPP nodes, TSMCs nodes, Global Foundries, Intel, many fans exist and all have different capabilities on different nodes