Hidden arts inside micro chips

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05-24-2010, 05:05 AM
kl0012

Hidden arts inside micro chips

Developers of integrated circuits have fun... Amazing things have been discovered by National High Magnetic Field Laboratory.

Runaway Train (LeCroy MVV 200 chip)

http://micro.magnet.fsu.edu/creatures/images/train.jpg

The Shepherd (Intel 8207, a dual-port RAM controller chip )

http://micro.magnet.fsu.edu/creature...s/shepherd.jpg

The Slide Trombone (AMD 7990 Ethernet controller integrated circuit)

http://micro.magnet.fsu.edu/creature...s/trombone.jpg

Big Mac Attack (Excalibur) (Motorola/IBM PowerPC 750 microprocessor)

http://micro.magnet.fsu.edu/creature...es/g3sword.jpg

This Bird's For You (Hewlett-Packard PA-RISC 7000-series microprocessor wafer)

http://micro.magnet.fsu.edu/creatures/images/bird.jpg

R12000 California License Plate ( MIPS R12000 )

http://micro.magnet.fsu.edu/creature.../calR12000.jpg

Cyrix 5x86 Chili Pepper (Cyrix 5x86 microprocessor)

http://micro.magnet.fsu.edu/creatures/images/chili.jpg

Milhouse Van Houten (Silicon Image Sil154CT64 digital transmitter integrated circuit)

http://micro.magnet.fsu.edu/creature...s/milhouse.jpg

More of this is here:
http://micro.magnet.fsu.edu/creatures/index.html

Enjoy!
05-24-2010, 05:07 AM
phelan1777

That is neat, their "signature" of sorts?:D
05-24-2010, 05:35 AM
[XC] Synthetickiller

Xtreme art? I think so!

Simply cool stuff. If anyone has more of this, post it!
05-24-2010, 05:56 AM
Sn0wm@n

so thats millhouse who stole my transistor ....
05-24-2010, 06:11 AM
Particle

What I'd like is to see new art on new chips. That doesn't appear to happen much these days.
05-24-2010, 06:56 AM
[XC] Oj101

This is awesome, yet somehow not surprising. It's like an invisible trademark :)
05-24-2010, 07:15 AM
Olivon

Nice ! Funny link, thanks :clap:
05-24-2010, 12:41 PM
Chumbucket843

Quote:

Originally Posted by [XC] Synthetickiller

Xtreme art? I think so!

Simply cool stuff. If anyone has more of this, post it!

http://smithsonianchips.si.edu/chipfun/graff.htm

http://www.chipworks.com/gallery1.aspx
05-24-2010, 12:59 PM
Caparroz

Wow, talk about a stroll down the memory lane!

I remember a thread in a brazilian forum about this with these very same pics about 10 years ago. Xtremesystems never fails to remember how old you are. :ROTF:

Thanks for posting, kl0012. :up:
05-24-2010, 04:19 PM
JF-AMD

Back in the 80's/90's at CPQ all of the PCB layouts included an image of the code name silkscreened on the board (it was part of the layout design).

You could always tell the best designs because the images were always pulled from the final board spin. If you had a good design you went to market with a beta level board because it was so stable and the icon remained. Pretty sure the original prosignia was code named "grand slam" and there was a tennis racket on the board.
05-24-2010, 04:54 PM
RAMdHERsoftware

thats so bad ass
05-24-2010, 09:26 PM
donitsi

Thanks for the links!
05-24-2010, 09:40 PM
ElSel10

Wait, this is real? A lot of those seem very unbelievable. Cool if true.
05-25-2010, 08:45 AM
Aerwidh

Awesome stuff! Thank you for posting this thread, kl0012! :up:
05-25-2010, 09:15 AM
Armitage

I go to that school and pass that building every day ;) Neat stuff! Where did you find these? Or how is a better question!
05-25-2010, 09:27 AM
kl0012

Quote:

Originally Posted by Armitage

I go to that school and pass that building every day ;) Neat stuff! Where did you find these? Or how is a better question!

It is not that hard when you know what to look for ... One guy told me that he wrote his name in the chip developed by his firm, using metallic layers (not sure if that true). Then I decided to do a little research in Google ... as it turned out the stuff is pretty old.
05-25-2010, 02:49 PM
Chruschef

semi-related, and brilliant: http://gizmodo.com/5547483/circuit-b...s-card-endgame
05-25-2010, 04:20 PM
BossBorot

they missed my favorite one

http://micro.magnet.fsu.edu/creature...s/mistert.html
05-25-2010, 05:02 PM
V0id

Haha very cool!
05-25-2010, 10:25 PM
Dr.FuzzyBallz

Cool i wonder if the newer processors have this.
05-25-2010, 11:08 PM
saaya

awesome! thanks :toast:
05-26-2010, 12:25 AM
LordEC911

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dr.FuzzyBallz

Cool i wonder if the newer processors have this.

Thats what I was thinking...

Also, the Ascari A10 is a work of art itself.
05-26-2010, 03:17 AM
saaya

so how about mainstream chips? is there nothing on our intel amd ati and nvidia chips like this? if no, then why not? :confused:
would be cool! :D

actually i think its a shame that chips from these 4 major companies dont have images edged onto the lid or packaging... just numbers and letters... :rolleyes:
05-26-2010, 03:19 AM
>HyperlogiK<

Quote:

Originally Posted by ElSel10

Wait, this is real? A lot of those seem very unbelievable. Cool if true.

Yeah, in some cases people have actually been fired because of it.
05-26-2010, 04:57 AM
Chumbucket843

Quote:

Originally Posted by saaya

so how about mainstream chips? is there nothing on our intel amd ati and nvidia chips like this? if no, then why not? :confused:
would be cool! :D

actually i think its a shame that chips from these 4 major companies dont have images edged onto the lid or packaging... just numbers and letters... :rolleyes:

they dont do it anymore for the most part because automatic wafer inspection tools think that the art is a dust particle and and mark every die as defective. you can go through some steps to get past it but its a waste of time.
05-26-2010, 05:15 AM
saaya

Quote:

Originally Posted by Chumbucket843

they dont do it anymore for the most part because automatic wafer inspection tools think that the art is a dust particle and and mark every die as defective. you can go through some steps to get past it but its a waste of time.

hmmm thats odd... why cant they just program the inspection tools to ignore the logo or accept it as part of the logic? or just ignore coordinates x to y? doesnt sound like a big deal at all :shrug:
on wafers, ok... nobody really sees it anyways... but like i said, on the package or on the IHS... thatd be great! :)
05-26-2010, 05:32 AM
Chumbucket843

Quote:

Originally Posted by saaya

hmmm thats odd... why cant they just program the inspection tools to ignore the logo or accept it as part of the logic? or just ignore coordinates x to y? doesnt sound like a big deal at all :shrug:
on wafers, ok... nobody really sees it anyways... but like i said, on the package or on the IHS... thatd be great! :)

they do that already but you have to add a pseudolayer to the wafer so it ends up being a waste of time. some companies just ban it, others have rules such as placing it in a corner.
05-26-2010, 05:44 AM
SMTB1963

1 Attachment(s)

Quote:

Originally Posted by BossBorot

they missed my favorite one

http://micro.magnet.fsu.edu/creature...s/mistert.html

that Mr. T one looks familiar...

found some micrographs of various chips on the EVGA SR-2 and came across this:
05-26-2010, 05:49 AM
[XC] Oj101

Quote:

Originally Posted by saaya

so how about mainstream chips? is there nothing on our intel amd ati and nvidia chips like this? if no, then why not? :confused:
would be cool! :D

actually i think its a shame that chips from these 4 major companies dont have images edged onto the lid or packaging... just numbers and letters... :rolleyes:

Athlon 650MHz
05-26-2010, 10:12 AM
Caparroz

Quote:

Originally Posted by SMTB1963

that Mr. T one looks familiar...

found some micrographs of various chips on the EVGA SR-2 and came across this:

I see what you did there... :D :ROTF: :up:
05-26-2010, 12:33 PM
SMTB1963

Caparroz has the eye -

Quote:

Originally Posted by Caparroz

I see what you did there... :D :ROTF: :up:

I was wondering when/if anyone would catch my little attempt at humor...:stick:

Saw the Mr. T image, and thought "...ya know, if Mr. T were to lose the mohawk and don some glasses..." :wasntme:

I probably shouldn't be posting stuff like that since I'm new around here - might get banned after only a few posts! :hammer: