Quote Originally Posted by _Lone_Wolf_ View Post
How much of a drop in replacement would metal gates be?
I assume new masks would be needed for the relevant layers but would the logic layout require a rework (ignoring any efforts at optimisations)?
It's totally different.The change is fundamental ; Intel worked for 8 years on high-k and metal gates until they had it right.AMD waits for IBM to perfect the technology.Basically their know-how is extremely limited.I'm not in the position to say how much the logic layout is changed when you switch processes but by the comments I've seen at more technical forums , it's no walk in the park.Basically , today's GPUs and CPUs are marred to the design process ; even the EDA tools take into account the performance of the process.

Not only that , AMD/IBM are using immersion at 45nm , a new set of problems.

Thirdly , it's a matter of cost , which is non trivial to develop high-k/metal gate.

All of the above combined meant AMD missed the train for 45nm high-k and will probably update the process in late 2009 as a stop gap until 32nm.IMO , I'm not sure AMD will bother with high-k and metal at 45nm.