Dean Kent Nov. Industry Update posted, realworldtech.com
Always a good read. A few highlights from a quick scan, mostly without comment:
With the release of the i850 chipset, Intel has again shown their commitment to DRDRAM, fitting the chipset with
dual channel capabilities and effectively a 400MHz FSB. Hardware reviews released this week show that the
chipset's 100MHz 'quad pumped' FSB, coupled with dual-channel DRDRAM support, results in spectacular
memory subsystem performance, though most current applications do not take advantage of this. Unfortunately,
the price will initially be quite high for the mainstream market, and the requirement for 6-layer motherboard PCBs
will add even more cost. In addition, because the chipset does not support dual processors, it will not likely
convince a large percentage of workstation users to jump onboard quickly.
Discussions at Comdex with three of the 4 manufacturers using this chipset revealed that most are not anticipating
a big demand for i850 products. Most of the manufacturers spoken with, whether they had an i850 based board
or not, indicated that they are anticipating the Brookdale (PC133 SDRAM, possibly DDR) chipset to spur
demand. Both the Brookdale and Tehama-E (DRDRAM) chipsets will be available in Q3 to support the
Northwood processor, according to published Intel roadmaps.
... VIA is on the verge of releasing their Apollo Pro266 chipset, which will support both SDR and DDR SDRAM for
the Socket 370 platform. At Comdex, there were approximately 20 motherboards shown that were based upon
this chipset, with several other non-attending manufacturers also indicating they have designs in the works also.
This appears to be one of the most desirable chipsets of the season, outpacing the i815EP offerings by almost a
2-to-1 margin.
Also highly anticipated is the KT266 chipset, which will support DDR SDRAM for the Socket A platform.
Unfortunately, this chipset will likely not be released until late Q1, or even mid-Q2 2001. Unlike the other chipsets
for the Athlon, this one will support both DDR and SDRAM DIMMs on the same motherboard.
Brief aside: Via is not our friend. Moving on:
Several manufacturers indicated that their tests show much better performance from the ALi chipset vs. the AMD
chipset. In addition, the AMD chipset appears to be limited to only 2 DIMMs, while motherboards sporting the
ALi chipset mostly come with 3 DIMMs. Though the chipset does support both DDR and SDRAM, there
appears to be a significant performance penalty when both types are implemented on the same board, so all of the
manufacturers have opted to support only DDR.
... It would seem that AMD may have little choice than to manufacture chipsets for their own processor line, just as
Intel, and now VIA, are doing, if they want to maintain or improve their position in this marketplace. To that end,
the 760MP (multiprocessor capable) chipset looks like it will become available in about March. Tyan was
showing their dual Athlon design at Comdex behind closed doors, though the chipset is under a strict NDA.
According to one source close to AMD, the chipset needs to go through at least one more revision before it can
be considered ready for release.
... Early this year, ASUS had predicted that by mid-year 50% of their motherboards shipped would be supporting
the Athlon. I don't have any statistics about whether this actually has occurred, however consider the percentage
of Socket A offerings overall (30%), and the fact that most manufacturers are claiming that their number one seller
is a Socket A board. Given these facts it seems feasible that the number of Socket A boards shipped by 3rd party
motherboard manufacturers will approach 50% by the end of this year.
... Recent reports seem to indicate that Intel has decided to scale back their aggressive plans to ramp the P4 early in
the year, most likely because feedback from OEMs was not positive. Fast ramps make systems obsolete quicker,
and it is anticipated that the initial demand for the P4 will not be huge. I would expect that once the Northwood
part becomes available, we will see some fast ramps as Intel once again goes for the performance crown.
... Because of the huge potential with the Pentium 4 architecture, AMD appears to have only about a year left in the
K7 core before Intel is able to run away in raw speed. For this reason, AMD realizes that their future now
depends upon the Hammer line of processors. The AMD roadmap provided at Comdex shows the Clawhammer
(single and dual processor capable) will be sampling in the fouth quarter of 2001, with production shipments
anticipated in the 1st quarter 2002. Sledgehammer, which will be 4 and 8-way capable, should start sampling
early in 2002, with production shipments the next quarter.
Cheers, Dan. |
