Wondering how small the silicon there actually is; the CPU is no bigger than the Broadway chip on the Wii yet infinitely more powerful lol.
The JH7110 SoC is manufactured in a 12nm process as far as I know, whereas the Broadway was initially manufactured in a 90nm process and later in a 65nm process, so that is quite a difference.
JH7110 (VisionFive2/Star64): adopts TSMC’s mature 28nm process technology.
BCM2711 (Raspberry Pi 4): 28 nm process
There is a reason why 28 nm process nodes are used in price optimised SoC’s, because it currently offers the maximum number of transistors for the minimum price. Lager transistors can use older nodes, which would cost less, but end up using a much larger area of silicon which costs more. And smaller transistors need more expensive newer nodes (which are in high demand) which costs more to use, but also use a smaller area of silicon. Both cost more per transistor, 28 nm process will be the optimal in terms of what you get for what you pay for at least the next 4 years, maybe longer.
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My guess would be that, without etching, grinding and polishing that, it would look amazingly similar to a delided BCM2711 chip https://imgur.com/a/r3AFuwm
Three main functions of the metal can are as
- a thermal heat spreader.
- block all light, semiconductors are light-sensitive. e.g. camera flash hardware reset
- reduce exposure to natural background radiation which can cause SEU’s.
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