Low Voltage Is Key To Energy-Efficient Chip

An anonymous reader writes in with news from the International Solid State Circuits Conference in San Francisco of a new energy-efficient chip designed by researchers at MIT. It's said to be able to run on 1/10 the power of current chips. Texas Instruments worked with MIT on the design, which is maybe five years from production. "The key to the chip's improved energy efficiency lies in making it work at a reduced voltage level, according to... a member of the chip design project team. Most of the mobile processors today operate at about 1 volt. The requirement for MIT's new design, however, drops to 0.3 volts."

All well and good

[WiglyWorm]

But how well does it overclock?

Re:All well and good

[ccarson]

Exactly! And can it run while submerged in beer?

in other news, high MPG key to better gas mileage

[pezpunk]

aparently from the Bureau of Slowly and Painfully Working Out The Obivous.

Perhaps John Madden Is Submitting Stories?

[eldavojohn]

aparently from the Bureau of Slowly and Painfully Working Out The Obivous.

Either that or John Madden [thinkexist.com] is writing headlines for Slashdot. Can he really top this gem?

"Hey, the offensive linemen are the biggest guys on the field, they're bigger than everybody else, and that's what makes them the biggest guys on the field." - John Madden

And, as it turns out, yes you can. The key to being energy efficient is using less energy!

Wow!

[StaticEngine]

If they can just get this thing down to zero volts, this chip will run forever!

Re:Wow!

[ChrisMP1]

0V processor [wikipedia.org]

Re:How can that work?

[Waffle Iron]

FETs are much more expensive

You need to buy them in bulk. For example, Intel will sell you about 500 million FETs for only $200.

Don't fuck with the boys from MIT, they can kick

[Anonymous Coward]

don't fuck with the boys from MIT

they can kick your ass using nothing but their brain waves from their slightly downturned head and funneled through their fingertips

laughing now, who is

Re:Wow!

[ichigo 2.0]

Nevermind that, they need to get it down to negative voltages, then all our energy problems would be solved!

Re:How can that work?

[Anonymous Coward]

In Spainium the voltage is 2.3, because we are not that efficient.