[RetroTechie]

Energy efficiency, high performance, low cost per IC: pick 2.

[datadrivenangel]

Up until a process generation or three ago, costs were declining as efficiency and performance increased!

[VMG]

When I compare my phone with a PDP11 it seems obvious that I can pick all three and then some

[snapplebobapple]

You are comparing time series data when the statement was obviously meant about cross sectional data.

[nine_k]

High absolute performance (Xeon / Epyc scale), maybe.

High performance per watt, why not all three? Smaller transistors take less power to switch, so they likely can be run at a higher frequency without thermal issues. (Of course, a lot of other design considerations apply.)