I'd disagree -- but I think an important question is whether the goal is to create an industrial base that can make a chip with similar methods to the 1980s at scale, or whether they just need to create a single chip as the culmination of all their work. It also depends on how slow you're willing to go -- with enough RAM, you could emulate the 8086 on something like a 4004 at a slower but still usable speed. (C.f. ARM Linux running on an 8-bit micro[1]) If it's a single chip, they can do things that don't scale. Using a simpler processor increases yield dramatically, making it easier for them to get a working processor later. Corrosion might be a problem if they take a long time to build things, but they can use gold wiring for everything despite the cost.
If you imagine them as monk-scribes, I think a story could be made of them practicing and honing their craft 12 hours a day until they can hand-etch circuits using a microscope and mechanical tools to downscale each movement they make (Sidestepping the UV source for photlithography). The RAM requirements can be lowered by micro-weaving readonly data with rope-core memory in a tiny package.
Humans are surprisingly good at fine and accurate work. This would be an illuminated Bible or sand art, but at an unprecedented scale.
The biggest hurdle, I think, is the energy required for getting chemicals at high purities and performing vapor deposition. Maybe they could harness hydro power to generate electricity? Maybe they can burn coal or charcoal for heat? The wear on such a system might be too much to keep up with for them.[1]: http://dmitry.gr/?r=05.Projects&proj=07.%20Linux%20on%208bit
rasz|7 years ago