Posted 02/09/99 12:19am by Mike Magee
Intel in full retreat over PC-133
Chip giant Intel has now bent to inevitable pressure and said that,
after evaluation, it will now support PC-133.
The news came from Peter MacWilliams, an Intel fellow, at an
announcement at the Intel Developer Forum (IDF).
MacWilliams said that Intel had realised the difficulties some companies
had in moving from synchronous memory to Rambus technology.
"We have come to a better understanding of how difficult the transition
might be," he said. "We don't see a change in the basic fundamentals."
MacWilliams said that major vendors are already building PC100/PC133
compliant systems, so Intel did not see any major need to update
specifications.
The first PC133 systems will arrive in the first half of next year, he
said.
"We'll look at validation for our own chipsets," he said.
The change means that Intel will now design specs to provide two sockets
for RIMMs and two sockets for PC133, after "overwhelming" requests from
OEMs.
"We're not supporting S-RIMM," he said, "and DIMM riser enabling is no
longer supported.
On Rambus technology, he said that the consortium (See Seven Dramurai
story yesterday), will attempt to reduce prices on die overheads,
packaging, RIMMs, component and RIMM testing and PCBs. "We take cost
reduction extremely seriously," he said.
Rambus manufacturers will have to follow guidelines closely to ensure
the best results.
MacWilliams refused to be drawn on which chipsets would support PC-133,
but said the standard will not be supported in either workstations or
servers.
In fifteen minutes time, Intel will hold a press conference on the
topic. We will update this story as necessary." ® |
