The Russian chips are not yet suitable for everyday use in companies, but there is progress.

The ongoing coronavirus pandemic has shown us how fragile our supply chains have become. Many products are sometimes only manufactured in certain regions of the world, which is why microchips have become so rare in the last 2 years. For this reason, too, Russia would like to buy more products from the domestic market.

Therefore, a small technology sector of its own has developed in the country in the past, in addition to software products, the associated hardware should also be “Made in Russia”. The MCST Elbrus-8C processors show that this is not yet the case with processors.

SberTech, the technology division of Russia’s largest bank, has compared the Elbrus-8C with systems with Intel Xeon Gold 6230 and had to realize that the technology is making great strides, but at the same time it is not yet suitable for everyday tasks within the company.

SberTech is not alone in this. Russian chips have already been installed in many places in the past, but when it comes to the critical infrastructure, one is still dependent on companies such as AMD and Intel. In the test field set up by SberTech, the Elbrus-8C failed in 84 percent of the functional test cases, and the chip could not or only partially withstand other tests.

Nevertheless, all hope is not lost. Experts say that although the chip has many disadvantages, it is still possible to work with it. In addition, adjustments in the software can optimize the current behavior and thus get the maximum out of the processor.

Another positive aspect is that such processors already exist, even if the development of new generations still takes far too long. Years can quickly pass before a concept is converted into a finished chip. During this time, companies such as AMD and Intel have long overtaken the progress that was then achieved. So it remains to be seen how chip development “Made in Russia” will progress in the future.

Via Tom’s hardware