Deep Dive https://gamersnexus.net/ en Tariffs Timeline https://gamersnexus.net/news-features-deep-dive/tariffs-timeline jimmy_thang April 23, 2025

We provide a detailed breakdown and timeline of the tariffs impacting the United States

The Highlights

  • The US has imposed wide-spread tariffs on most of the countries in the world
  • Our timeline chronicles the shifting nature of the tariffs
  • Tariffs have impacted the pricing and availability of hardware in the US
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Our timeline below accompanies our deep-dive investigation into the impact of the tariffs roll-out on the computer hardware industry. Our investigation focused on not just the percentages, but specifically, the way in which they were announced and applied.
We flew around the country to meet with factories in the US, manufacturers who use contract manufacturing in other countries (like China, Vietnam, Thailand, Taiwan, Singapore, Japan, so forth), German manufacturers, and more. Our interview list included Hyte, Thermal Grizzly, Protocase/45 Drives, iBUYPOWER, CyberPower PC, Corsair Components, freight forwarding company Straight Forwarding, and Louis Rossmann of Rossmann Repair.
You can find that video embedded below. Below that, we have included the entire timeline of tariff changes that we could find. It is dated back to 2018. Please note that we have likely missed a few things, as this situation changes nearly daily and our regular coverage spectrum has not traditionally included following these changes; however, we believe we have compiled all of the major changes that are directly relevant to this story, particularly as it relates to computer hardware. This was a huge team effort at GN and required a massive investment in travel and time to complete our 3-hour documentary. If you find it educational, we ask that you please support us directly by buying something from our store. You can find high heat resistant project and soldering mats, PC building Modmats, T-shirts with paper launch GPUs or Honey Pots from our lawsuit against PayPal, copper-plated stainless steel mule mugs with thermal conductivity written on them, tabletop gaming dice with embedded inductors or cats, and more. Thank you.

Credits

Host, Writing, Lead Editing

Steve Burke

Lead Camera, Storyboarding, Editing

Vitalii Makhnovets

Pre-Cut, Labeling

Mike Gaglione
Tim Phetdara

Animations, Labeling

Andrew Coleman

Writing, Research

Jimmy Thang
Ben Benson

US Tariffs Timeline

This timeline is sorted chronologically. We have attempted to present it as neutrally as feasible and from a place of covering the impact and events. As a part of this effort, we are also including links to sources with ideologies we may not agree with, but which we believe are appropriate for establishing the timeline of events.

Note on Sources

Our intent is to cite primary sources, including government documents, and a variety of secondary sources. In some cases, we link only to secondary news stories. This can occur when a government announcement happens during briefings or interviews with reporters.

Background: Tariffs During The First Trump Administration & Biden Administration 

  • Jan. 22, 2018: The Trump Administration imposed tariffs on solar panel components and residential washing machines. Solar panel components had a 30% tariff, which would decline over four years. The administration levied a tariff of 20% on the first 1.2 million imported washers, which could increase to 50%. 
  • March 8, 2018: President Trump announced a 25% tariff on steel imports and 10% tariff on aluminum imports for many countries, not including Canada and Mexico. 
  • May 31, 2018: The Trump Administration imposed a 25% tariff on steel imports and 10% tariff on aluminum imports for Canada, Mexico and the European Union. The administration said it had “reached arrangements on steel with Australia, Argentina, and Brazil, and with Australia and Argentina on aluminum.”
  • June 29, 2018: Canada announced tariffs targeted at U.S. steel and aluminum products, in addition to other goods. The tariffs would go into effect on July 1, 2018. 
  • Sept. 18, 2018: The United States issued $200 billion in tariffs on Chinese imports, citing the need to protect “intellectual property.” 
  • May 17, 2019: The United States removed tariffs for steel and aluminum imports from Canada and Mexico.
  • July 1, 2020: The USMCA - a trade agreement among the United States, Canada and Mexico - goes into effect. 
  • Sept. 30, 2021: In a Politico interview, a Biden administration official said the United States will “build on” existing tariffs that are levied against China.
  • May 14, 2024: The Biden Administration increased tariffs on imports from China for electric vehicles, solar cells, lithium-ion vehicle batteries, and semiconductors, among other products. Tariff increases ranged from 25% to 100%. 
  • Sept. 13, 2024: The Biden Administration finalized tariff rates and exceptions from the May tariff announcement. Updates included new timing, rates and exclusions for some medical devices, solar manufacturing equipment, and wafers. 

Tariffs During The Second Trump Administration 

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Monday, Jan. 20 

On inauguration day, President Trump said the U.S. government would implement 25% tariffs on imports from Canada and Mexico, starting on Feb. 1. 

Sunday, Jan. 26 

The Trump Administration said it would impose 25% tariffs on imports from Colombia after an immigration dispute. In response, the Colombian government threatened 25% tariffs on imports from the United States. The situation deescalated after the two countries reached an agreement.  

Saturday, Feb. 1

The Trump Administration announced 25% tariffs on imports from Canada and Mexico. Energy imports from Canada would have a lower tariff rate of 10%.

The Trump Administration announced 10% tariffs on imports from China. 

The tariffs on Canada, Mexico, and China would go into effect on February 4. 

Monday, Feb. 3

The Trump Administration agreed to a 30-day pause on tariffs with Canada and Mexico after negotiations. 

President Trump told reporters that the European Union could face tariffs soon.

Tuesday, Feb. 4

The United States imposed a 10% tariff on imports from China, as announced on February 1. 

China announced new tariffs on imports from the United States, including a 15% duty on coal and liquefied natural gas. China also announced 10% tariffs on imported crude oil, agricultural machinery, and pickup trucks. These tariffs would go into effect on February 10. 

China announced export controls on several minerals and began investigating Google for antitrust violations. 

Monday, Feb. 10

In a continuation of tariffs from 2018, the Trump Administration announced a 25% tariff on imported steel and aluminum, which would go into effect on March 12. The administration stopped providing exemptions for steel and aluminum imports from Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, Japan, Mexico, South Korea, the European Union, Ukraine, and the United Kingdom. 

To avoid confusion with other tariff names, we will refer to these as steel tariffs and aluminum tariffs going forward. 

China’s tariffs on imports against the United States went into effect, as announced on Feb. 4. 

Thursday, February 13

The Trump Administration announced the Fair and Reciprocal Plan, a trade plan intended “to reduce [the United States’] large and persistent annual trade deficit in goods and to address other unfair and unbalanced aspects of [its] trade with foreign trading partners.” 

The White House said the trade plan would determine “the equivalent of a reciprocal tariff with respect to each foreign trading partner.” 

To avoid confusion with other tariff names, we will use the reciprocal tariff naming for these specific tariffs going forward.  

Monday, March 3

The Trump Administration raised tariffs on imports from China from 10% to 20%. 

Tuesday, March 4

The United States’ 20% tariffs on imports from China go into effect. 

The United States’ 25% tariffs on imports from Canada go into effect. The United States taxed Canadian energy imports at 10%, rather than 25%. 

The United States’ 25% tariffs on imports from Mexico go into effect. 

China announced tariffs of 10%-15% on U.S. farm and food exports and added 10 U.S. companies to its unreliable entity list. 

  • Sources
    • China - Government Documents (1, 2) 
    • Reuters (1, 2)
    • Xinhua

Canada announced 25% tariffs on many U.S. imports. The Canadian government said the tariffs would cover U.S. goods worth C$30 billion (~$20.7 billion) immediately. 

Wednesday, March 5 

The Trump Administration paused tariffs on cars coming into the United States from Canada and Mexico for one month. According to White House officials, the pause happened after President Trump spoke with leaders of Ford, General Motors, and Stellantis. 

Thursday, March 6

The Trump Administration paused tariffs on some products from Canada and Mexico that are compliant with the USMCA (United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement), a free trade agreement. 

White House officials informed media outlets that 50% of Mexican imports and 38% of Canadian imports are compliant with the USMCA.  

Monday, March 10  

As announced on March 4, China began imposing 10-15% tariffs on many farm products from the United States, including soybeans, wheat, corn, beef and chicken. 

Wednesday, March 12 

The United States’ 25% tariffs on steel and aluminum imports go into effect. 

Canada increased its tariffs on U.S. imported steel and aluminum products by 25%. The Canadian government said the affected products include tools, computers, servers, and display monitors, among other products. The tariffs would go into effect on March 13. 

The European Union responded with its own tariffs against the United States. The EU said that its countermeasures could “apply to US goods exports worth up to €26 billion.”

Thursday, March 13

President Trump threatened the European Union with a 200% tariff on European alcohol. 

Monday, March 24

The Trump Administration issued an executive order that would impose a tariff of 25% on imports from countries that import oil from Venezuela, starting on April 2. 

Wednesday, March 26

The Trump Administration announced a plan to impose 25% tariffs on imported automobiles and car parts, such as engines, transmissions, and electrical components. Tariffs would begin on April 3. The administration included exemptions for USMCA-compliant auto parts.

Thursday, March 27

Industry impacts:

  • Hyte announced higher prices due to incoming tariffs: Hyte blog 
Wednesday, April 2 

Consistent with the Fair and Reciprocal Plan from February 13, the Trump Administration announced reciprocal tariffs on many countries. In addition, the administration announced a 10% tariff on nearly all countries. 

The administration said the 10% tariff rate would go into effect on April 5. The reciprocal tariffs would go into effect on April 9. 

As stated on February 13, the administration implemented different reciprocal tariff rates for many trading partners. Examples: 

  • Vietnam - 46%
  • Thailand - 36%
  • Taiwan - 32%
  • Japan - 24%
  • European Union - 20% 

The administration added a 34% reciprocal tariff to China, on top of the existing 20%, bringing the total to 54%.

Thursday, April 3

As announced on March 26, the Trump Administration's 25% tariffs on imported automobiles went into effect. The administration delayed tariffs on automotive parts until a date no later than May 3. 

Industry impacts:

  • META PCs issued a statement about possible price increases: Statement
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Friday, April 4

China’s government said it will impose additional tariffs of 34% on U.S. goods starting on April 10. China announced export controls on several rare earth minerals. 

Industry impacts:

Saturday, April 5

The Trump Administration’s 10% tariff goes into effect for many countries, as announced on April 2. 

Monday, April 7

Industry impacts:

  • Framework paused sales of several Framework Laptop 13 models to the United States: Twitter statement. 
Tuesday, April 8

The Trump Administration increased the tariff rate on imports from China by 50%. Through an executive order, the administration amended the reciprocal tariff rate for China from 34% to 84%. This tariff rate increase was in addition to the 20% tariff rate from March 4. 

Industry impacts:

Reports surfaced of Razer stopping laptop sales to the United States. Razer did not publicly confirm this, but U.S. consumers were unable to buy laptops on Razer’s website. 

Wednesday, April 9

The Trump Administration’s reciprocal tariff rates went into effect shortly after midnight. 

Later that day, with the exception of China, the Trump Administration paused many reciprocal tariffs for 90 days. The administration did not pause the 10% tariff on imports from April 5. 

China responded with an additional 50% tariff on U.S. imports. U.S. goods shipped to China now faced an 84% tariff, when accounting for the existing 34% tariff from April 4. 

The Trump Administration raised tariffs on imports from China to 125%.

The European Union approved new tariffs against the United States. The EU said details would come later. 

Industry impacts:

  • Per a report in Nikkei, a newspaper in Asia, Apple requested suppliers to air ship premium devices to the United States before the April 9 tariff deadline. 
  • Framework increased prices and delayed some shipments to the United States: Framework blog 
Thursday, April 10 

The Trump Administration clarified to reporters that the 125% tariff on Chinese imports was in addition to the previously announced 20%. The White House confirmed the tariff rate for imports from China is 145%. 

The European Union paused its tariffs against the United States. 

As announced on April 4 and April 9, China’s tariffs on imports from the United States go into effect.

Friday, April 11 

China increased tariffs on imports from the United States from 84% to 125%. China said the new tariff rate would go into effect on April 12. 

Industry impacts:

  • Per a report in Commercial Times, multiple OEMs paused laptop shipments to the United States. The reported companies included Dell, HP, and Lenovo. Mashable reached out to the three OEMs for comment; Mashable has not published a comment yet. 
Friday, April 11 - Saturday, April 12 

On April 11, the US federal government published guidance stating that some electronics, including smartphones and computers, are exempted from the reciprocal tariffs. Media reported that the exemptions are intended to help U.S. technology companies like Apple. 

Sunday, April 13 

President Trump said the United States will announce tariffs on semiconductors soon. An administration official clarified that tariff exemptions for electronics are “temporary.” 

Monday, April 14

In a meeting with reporters, President Trump said he may give tariff exemptions to automobile manufacturers. 

Industry impacts:

  • NVIDIA announced that it will begin building AI supercomputers within the United States: NVIDIA blog
Tuesday, April 15

In a White House fact sheet, the administration said imports from China face tariffs of up to 245% on certain goods, including electric vehicles, when accounting for all previous tariffs. 

Friday, April 18

The federal government announced fees for ships made in China destined for US ports. The fees could begin in October and increase over time. 

Sunday, April 20

The Chinese government warned countries about cooperating with the United States on trade at the expense of China’s interest. According to a translation via the BBC, the Chinese Commerce Ministry said, “China firmly opposes any party reaching a deal at the expense of China's interests. If this happens, China will never accept it and will resolutely take countermeasures.”

Tuesday, April 22

The US Department of Commerce “determined that imports of solar cells from Cambodia, Malaysia, Thailand, and Vietnam are being dumped into the U.S. market.” The Internal Trade Commission, a separate agency, will make the final decision on tariffs. 

Helpful Timelines

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Please consider watching our investigation for more information.

]]> Wed, 23 Apr 2025 16:14:00 +0000 jimmy_thang 14079 at https://gamersnexus.net FPS Benchmarks Are Flawed: Introducing Animation Error | Engineering Discussion https://gamersnexus.net/gpus-cpus-deep-dive/fps-benchmarks-are-flawed-introducing-animation-error-engineering-discussion jimmy_thang April 2, 2024

We interview Intel engineer Tom Petersen and talk about the advancements behind PresentMon 2.0

The Highlights

  • PresentMon 2.0 will indicate GPU wait and busy times within the render time, which shows the interdependency between the GPU and CPU
  • PresentMon 2.0 is currently in beta and currently doesn't have a public release date
  • PresentMon 2.0 will highlight simulation time error, which aims to measure stuttering in a novel way
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We recently had the chance to catch up with Intel engineer Tom Petersen, with whom we’ve spoken in the past about benchmarking concepts like GPU Busy. This time, we talked about the open source PresentMon 2.0, which is an update to an open-source tool from Intel that has long since supplanted FRAPS. We've been using PresentMon for around a decade at this point in our benchmarks, as have many other reviewers; however, the updates aim to bring new metrics into play to reveal bottlenecking more readily. We showcased some of these in our Dragon's Dogma 2 benchmarking recently.

In this discussion, we talk about the inadequacies of looking at just frametimes.

Editor's note: This was originally published on March 12, 2024 as a video. This content has been adapted to written format for this article and is otherwise unchanged from the original publication.

Credits

Host

Steve Burke

Video Editing, Camera

Vitalii Makhnovets

Video Editing

Tim Phetdara

Writing, Web Editing

Jimmy Thang

With PresentMon 2.0, which is currently in beta, the software will show GPU wait times within the render time, which shows the interdependency between the GPU and CPU. Previously, PresentMon introduced GPU Busy (msGPUActive), but GPU Wait allows us to see inside the GPU Busy metric to determine if the GPU (despite appearing "busy") is still waiting on the CPU in between its rendering operations.

PresentMon 2.0 will also show simulation time error, a representation of stuttering. Whereas frametime measures variations in the delivery interval for each frame, simulation time error directly measures errors or a mismatching of game animation / the game state and the frame being presented. In other words, when the game just sort of feels bad but doesn't necessarily have a direct latency problem or frametime problem. This might be an instance where the simulation is erroneously matched to the frame being presented, meaning you're viewing data which is effectively out of sync with the visual, despite a potentially good frametime itself.

According to Petersen, you ideally want the step between frame times to be uniform.

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PresentMon 2.0 is still a work in progress but GamersNexus is experimenting with creating an error per second metric that will indicate, most likely, when a particular game is problematic. Dragon's Dogma 2 gave us a strong start to that.

In our discussion, Petersen also mentioned that Intel is also working on a software-based "click-to-photon" tester, which would start by looking at a USB event like a mouse or keyboard click (such as a Windows ETW marker). This can't truly be click-to-photon since there is no external capture of the "photon" part, but it may be a first step to giving 'normal' tools to end users without needing hardware. NVIDIA's FrameView also provides a PCL, or PC Latency, measurement that provides a level of evaluation for total system latency sans input and display out. Learn more about that in our recent latency engineering discussion.

Since software latency measurements aren't perfect, Intel is also making a hardware solution called the "Latency Measurement Tool" (LMT). It’s still being refined, but Petersen says that it will eventually be integrated with PresentMon and will be completely open sourced, including PCB schematics, software, and hardware solutions. This would be an alternative to NVIDIA's LDAT. Conceptually, the devices do the same thing, but differences in openness and in capability set them apart. NVIDIA's has some more advanced functionality baked into the software, while Intel's will be (theoretically) wide open.

In the video embedded above, we take a look at PresentMon 2.0’s interface, which highlights how the software is able to examine CPU and GPU bottlenecks. The tool also has very robust histogram features. 

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Petersen says that PresentMon 2.0 will be out soon and we hope to see how it might impact our testing methodology moving forward.

]]> Tue, 02 Apr 2024 15:10:00 +0000 jimmy_thang 13968 at https://gamersnexus.net How RAM is Made: Automated Binning, Manufacturing, & Burn-in Testing | Factory Tours https://gamersnexus.net/features-deep-dive/how-ram-made-automated-binning-manufacturing-burn-testing-factory-tours jimmy_thang January 19, 2024

We visited V-Color in Taiwan to get an inside look into its secret RAM-manufacturing processes

The Highlights

  • V-Color employs a lot of custom-built automation to bin high-end memory
  • As high tech as testing and manufacturing RAM can be, PCB separation can be a mostly simple process
  • One V-Color robotic arm can test about 23,000 RAM modules per day

Table of Contents

  • AutoTOC
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Intro

Touring V-Color’s factory, we saw robots making thousands of sticks of RAM, numbering in the petabytes, and learned the secrets of RAM manufacturing.

The company’s Taiwan-based factory pumps-out memory using custom-built automation to bin the best overclocking chips for high-end memory. 

In this special addition to our factory tour series, we’ll see how SMT lines manufacture memory sticks for multiple large memory brands. We’ll see hundreds of testing stations scattered around, working around the clock to stability test RAM.

Credits

Host, Writing, Editing

Steve Burke

Camera, Video Editing

Mike Gaglione

Video Editing

Vitalii Makhnovets

Web Editing

Jimmy Thang

Automated Binning of Memory

We’ll start our tour of V-Color in its Automated Overclock Binning Lab. There’s no buzzword usage of “AI” here: These are just straight-up robots and automation, the old-school way -- except with ultra-advanced frequency and stability testing of modules.

Meet the backbone of this operation: These robots come in yellow and red variations, with each serving a special purpose. Naturally, the red robots are faster -- just like how red LEDs make your PC faster -- and both types set to work quality checking memory as soon as it enters the factory from the supplier.

The factory itself is extremely low-key: It’s located in Xindian, Taiwan, and is hidden away upstairs in this older, mixed-use office and residential building. 

The hallways leading to the advanced, ultra-clean, bright facilities we will see in this tour are deceptively dark, to the extent that we thought we were in the wrong place when we first arrived.

But just upstairs is this advanced OC lab.

This lab features high-speed binning robots and automation to determine the chip quality of each individual module that V-Color buys from suppliers like SK Hynix, Samsung, or Micron. They can process DDR4 or DDR5 memory and perform simple pass/fail analysis at a given frequency. Those that pass progress to burn-in testing on a per-module basis for stability, while those that fail are sent back to other robots for testing at lower frequencies.

Only two operators are required to keep this entire binning facility running, with the automation able to run 24/7. 

The screens outside of this lab show the different bins that V-color was testing at the time we visited. The large number at the bottom is the yield, or the pass rate, at that spec. A few of these are 100%, with one at 57.52%. That doesn’t necessarily mean the chips are defective, just that they can’t hit these settings. That particular test is configured at 1.18V and using timings of 17-19-19-39.

Other frequencies at the time we visited included 6400, 6200, 4400, and 7000+, but we’ll look at that later. 

Before we move on to burn-in testing, let's talk about how these robots actually do the binning.

The test is simple: The robot moves into position over the loading tray of fresh memory from the supplier, lowers, and uses 8 suction cups to pick up the individual chips. 

It then moves them into a prep board for a couple of seconds, then into the testing platform. The actual test typically takes about 15-20 seconds, with more time required for physical movement of the arm. 

The robotic arm then picks the chips back up and moves them over to either a pass or fail tray. Passes progress to the next step, with failures going back for binning at a lower spec or higher voltage. This particular test, including the time it takes the robot to move the arm between trays, took about 50 seconds per 8 chips. At 24/7 operation and assuming zero interruptions, that would mean this machine could complete over 1700 tests per day, which would be almost 14,000 modules per day for this one machine. 

The red machines operate much faster and have more complex movements so that the arm can maneuver around the chamber quicker. Its main advantage is that it has more testing trays, so instead of waiting for the test to complete before picking up the chips, it can alternate between two groups of 8 units. 

If you look closely when it’s placing the units down in the pretest tray, you’ll see two locations for those chips to rest. It also has two locations for active testing. This particular test was completing about 16 modules per minute, so at that pace, it could do about 23,000 per day without interruption. 

The yellow machines were the prototypes and can run for 1 hour at a time completely unmanned, at which point an operator has to load and check them. The new red machines can operate for 24 hours after loading, so this factory may be able to go even slimmer on staff for the night shift.

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We asked a few questions while watching these machines execute their work with ruthless efficiency: First, we learned that they can test up to 4 timings, alongside voltage and frequency tests, to expedite the process. We asked what the error rate is of the machine itself, and we were told “0%.” It never makes an error. That’s impressive.

Other machines in this lab include a few things we couldn’t show and then an oven. This is also useful for NAND testing, as V-color can manufacture RAM and SSDs. The oven tests products at 98 degrees Celsius for endurance and stability.

After all of this automated testing, the memory takes a quick trip down the hall to the SMT machines -- or surface-mount technology line.

Assembling RAM Sticks: SMT Lines

This is the V-Color SMT room, where it operates 2 full-length lines for manufacturing memory. These lines consist of solder paste machines, pick-and-place machines, and machines that cut the memory PCBs. They can fully manufacture their RAM in these lines, and we even get a digital view of the parts progressing through the line.

Because they’re making RAM, it’s small and efficient and can largely be run with a single operator in the room.

Surface Mount Technology lines are used for almost every component at some point in the production process. And they never stop being cool.

SMT lines in some factories, like the MSI one shown above and below, also integrate wave soldering lines that help to attach through-hole components to the board. RAM at V-Color's facility doesn't require this step, but it's one of the ways SMT lines are expansible.

They also have fast-paced robotic arms that place components with deadly precision.

And the only human intervention is to keep a constant feed of reels upon reels of components, trays of GPUs or memory modules or silicon, and bars of solder.

Some lines, like MSI’s above, have extra steps for photography of motherboards or GPUs to check against customer RMAs in the future. We’ve also shown these at Gigabyte’s factory in Taiwan previously.

The longest SMT line we’ve ever seen is about 100 meters long and it was fully automated. Generally speaking, SMT lines will mount the smallest parts first and the largest ones later, which allows the machines to keep the speed high as they don’t need to dance around taller components (like inductors). Heatsinks are often placed by hand on motherboards.

V-Color’s line is smaller than the VGA lines by comparison, but it doesn’t need to be the same size. RAM is a relatively simple product: You have a PCB and a bunch of small caps and resistors, then the memory chips themselves. There’s not much to it.

The first step of the SMT process is to load the solder mask and the blank memory PCBs. The RAM goes through a machine that applies a thick paste to the board. This prepares the stick to get baked later, which solidifies the components to the PCB.

Next, a conveyor belt takes the stick away. 

Checking the monitor, we can see where each batch of memory is in the process. The blue blocks represent where the batches are. They move from right to left. The bottom right gives away the speed: This belt is moving at 82 centimeters per minute. We normally aren’t allowed to shoot these screens, so this is one of the shots we were the most excited about because it shows a commander’s view of the line.

But there’s another secret we get to show in this tour: A second screen. This one tells us the time break-down, and also outs how long we’ve held onto this footage. You can see that the assembly time is 38.68 seconds per boards, which is impressively fast. Currently, the line is processing 3,529 chips per hour and 70 boards per hour, averaging about 50 components per board. 

Remember, that’s everything: Each part on these reels and each part getting placed by these robots is counted here, not just the memory. Complex motherboards can be thousands of parts.

After going through the solder paste application, the RAM progresses to a machine that performs automatic optical inspection and begins the pick-and-place process. There are multiple stages of pick-and-place in this pipeline: Each pick-and-place machine pulls from reels of thousands of small components. 

In this shot, we can see the memory chips themselves getting placed on the PCB by the robotic arm, before and after each movement it’s optically scanning to ensure accurate placement prior to baking.

We also have a few shots where they paused the line for us to see the interior of the machines, but they had to be turned off for these shots. You can see each of the reels feeds into this like ammo belts, with the moving head actuated by gas lines and compressed air.

Ovens operate at multiple temperatures in this line, each baking the components securely onto the PCB. The hottest oven is the first one, meant to ply the solder paste for use, running at 260 degrees Celsius. 

The last oven is the coolest of them as the more sensitive components have been placed by this point.

At the end, the memory is spat-out 5 complete sticks at a time, consisting of all components and ready for separation. Compared to all these precision robots, PCB separation is a relatively simple process mostly involving a CNC router of some kind.

You can see as this technician loads the custom-made holsters for the 5-packs of memory, he gets the honors of pressing the giant green button. 

Instantly, just as fast as the button was pressed, the memory is sucked into the machine and you can hear the saw precisely separating the components and cutting the excess PCB off.

You can see the tiny blade vibrating as it cuts through the material, after which it spits the tray back out and the technician removes the excess circuit-board material.

All of the PCB powder is vacuumed out during the process and contained in a sealed container to be disposed of. Just these two lines alone can produce 10,000 sticks of memory if operating with the simplest modules and at maximum capacity.

Thus far, each stage of the operation has been impressively efficient, with only a few people needed in environments that, compared to some of the steel factories and chemical factories we’ve been in, are on the nicer side. But there’s one more stage to the process of memory manufacturing, and that’s burn-in.

RAM Burn-in Testing

This is the burn-in lab. And here, V-color tests every single stick of memory that it makes. This one room contains over 200 available test beds for memory. 

At a surface level, these are just test benches: They consist of a normal motherboard, CPU, and cooler. But on closer inspection, the memory is socketed into special risers, functioning as interposers that are used for validation and burn-in. 

Every stick that’s 8GB and under goes through a 1-hour burn-in test, with each stick exceeding 8GB requiring 1.5 hours for burn-in. The screens light up green for all the good modules and will flash errors for anything that fails the test. For the most part, bad chips should have been weeded-out in the first stage of the binning process, but it’s possible that entire DIMM sticks fail due to manufacturing issues in the SMT process. This station will help identify those.

In the event of a failure, the bad stick is taken for diagnostics by a technician. There are various ways to try and recover a bad stick: One is for desoldering and resoldering of any components that might be misaligned, although that would normally be caught by AOI in the SMT line. 

Another is with reflow ovens, where they can send the stick back through a local oven line just to reseat and reflow the solder. A final option might be determining that the stick is unsalvageable, such as with a bad PCB, and so V-Color will have technicians remove the valuable DRAM for re-use on a new stick.

RAM Overclocking Testing

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The last station has the coolest job in the building: overclocking.

The company showed us its specialized one-off testing room for extreme OC memory binning -- and something caught our eye...

This station mixes manual and automated processes, where technicians also possess memory overclocking and tuning abilities. Ultra high-bin SKUs go through this line, contributing to some of the cost, and might be distributed to extreme overclockers or sold as a special line. 

You’ll notice that they keep memory cooling mounted to these stations: V-Color says that its A-die units perform best at 60C and below, with M die at its best at 80C and below.

As the memory modules exit these test rigs, they’re sent to automatic packaging and shipped to retailers and OEM customers. Memory is one of the most space-efficient manufacturing processes in the entire industry.

All of this is happening secluded upstairs in the mixed-use building, with the SMT lines literal steps away from the automated binning and the burn-in testing. That means any failures or reworks can be taken care of on the same day that they’re found, keeping process efficiency and throughput high.

And that’s the start-to-finish of how memory is made. The biggest unshown step is the actual silicon fabrication supply-side, but maybe that’ll be a future tour.

Be sure to check out the rest of our educational factory tour series as a video playlist below, and please consider supporting our tours (which are fully self-funded -- the factories are not permitted to provide travel assistance or pay for coverage) by buying something on our GN store.

]]> Fri, 19 Jan 2024 14:00:00 +0000 jimmy_thang 13943 at https://gamersnexus.net