I forgot about FinFET and just extrapolated from the i-series jump but the only important differences I've seen in processors in the last 3-4 years has been power efficiency, cache, and bus speed. Clock speeds (especially with TurboBoost thrown in) became more and more erratic as a metric for my use cases so at this point it's all about Intel's microarchitecture and process (in my perspective). They've also been one of the most advanced firms materials wise so as we start to get smaller and smaller, I think Intel will begin to use new materials that will increase the gains on FinFET and process. IIRC in 2012 they were two "generations" ahead on high dielectric materials and their silicon straining process for mass production.
I just picked two companies off the cuff that are relatively well known and that I think could make an impact in the server market with ARM. I think comparing ARM mobile SoCs to Intel's x86 or AMDs AMD64 is disingenuous and since all TSMC and Global Foundries can do is play catchup (hence me touting Intel's process advantage), the brunt is left on the microarchitecture designers and the integrators to really make a server that can beat Intel's Xeon. I'm sure TSMC/Global Foundries are deeply involved in the design aspect but I think other companies will make or break ARM in the server market.
As for the dates, that's a shame to hear :(. However, I just looked it up and TSMC finished their 20nm design this year so I really doubt 10nm chips will be in a server-ready state in 2016. I think that the next few years are on ARM's turf but if Intel can hit the cost sweet spot that ARM is at (or even just in the ballpark) with Intel's process and performance, it might be the end of ARM as a non-mobile/embedded contender.
I just picked two companies off the cuff that are relatively well known and that I think could make an impact in the server market with ARM. I think comparing ARM mobile SoCs to Intel's x86 or AMDs AMD64 is disingenuous and since all TSMC and Global Foundries can do is play catchup (hence me touting Intel's process advantage), the brunt is left on the microarchitecture designers and the integrators to really make a server that can beat Intel's Xeon. I'm sure TSMC/Global Foundries are deeply involved in the design aspect but I think other companies will make or break ARM in the server market.
As for the dates, that's a shame to hear :(. However, I just looked it up and TSMC finished their 20nm design this year so I really doubt 10nm chips will be in a server-ready state in 2016. I think that the next few years are on ARM's turf but if Intel can hit the cost sweet spot that ARM is at (or even just in the ballpark) with Intel's process and performance, it might be the end of ARM as a non-mobile/embedded contender.