Prodigy Delayed Again: Tachyum’s Super Chip Slips to 2024
At the 2018 Hot Chips conference, Tachyum unveiled the design concept of its Prodigy universal processor, acclaimed for its dynamic binary translation capability that allows it to run any code with remarkable execution and translation efficiency, sparking significant interest in the industry. Tachyum introduced Prodigy last year and began accepting pre-orders for evaluation platforms, but its official launch, initially scheduled for 2022, was postponed to 2023.
According to Tom’s Hardware, Tachyum has once again delayed the market release of the Prodigy processor, with the latest roadmap pointing to the second half of 2024. Additionally, Tachyum is preparing the Prodigy 2 processor, manufactured using a 3nm process and supporting PCIe 6.0 and CXL protocol, expected to arrive in the first half of 2026.
Touted as the world’s first universal processor, Prodigy can perform CPU, GPU, and TPU tasks on a single chip. It can run native, x86, ARM, and RISC-V binary files, offering cost savings and high-performance computing capabilities compared to its competitors. Prodigy is built using Tachyum’s proprietary architecture and TSMC’s 5nm process, featuring up to 128 64-bit cores, equipped with 96 PCIe 5.0 lanes. Additionally, it includes 16 DDR5 memory controllers, supporting DDR5-6400, to facilitate massive memory capacity suitable for large language models and the construction of dual and quad-channel platforms.
Previously, Tachyum announced that by utilizing new EDA tools during the physical design stage of the Prodigy processor, they achieved an enhanced design, successfully increasing the maximum core count from 128 to 192, a 50% increase, with only a minor increase in chip size from 500mm² to 600mm² to accommodate the additional cores. Moreover, the chip’s L2/L3 cache was increased from 128MB to 192MB and supports the higher-frequency DDR5-7200.
However, Tachyum’s latest roadmap shows the Prodigy processor with a maximum of 128 cores, raising questions about a possible discrepancy in the details.
