OCT 5, 1999, M2 Communications - Hypertec has become the first UK
manufacturer to produce a Rambus RIMM (Rambus in-line memory module) to
the Rambus Inc specification. The company is now placed to go into full
production this Autumn as the designs for its Rambus PCB's (printed
circuit boards) are complete in readiness for the anticipated demand
for Rambus.
Hypertec claim that the standards set for the design and validation
of the product by Rambus are so high that, as a result, a Rambus
product from a branded memory supplier such as Hypertec, will meet the
same standards as required of an OEM. From a user's perspective, it
will be virtually impossible to detect any differences in a module,
except in the price.
Subsequently, the introduction of Rambus memory technology into the
UK will break the long-standing OEM domination of the market, as it
will undermine the OEM argument given to users that only OEM versions
of a memory product should be used and not a branded memory supplier's.
Any memory module, produced to the Rambus specification will be
validated by an independent laboratory in order to be listed on the
Rambus site as a valid Rambus RIMM.
"There is no doubt that the specifications for producing a Rambus
memory module are tight, but we are the first company in the UK to do
this and we had to, because our customers expect this from us,"
explained Lianne Denness, managing director at Hypertec. "Hypertec has
invested significantly in research and development and test &
production facilities to enable us to stay at the forefront of the
branded memory market. Not every player will be able to afford to enter
the game - or meet the exacting standards that will govern it," she
continued.
Hypertec recently announced its support for the now Direct Rambus
memory technology and has predicted desktop sustained performance
improvements of three times that of current SDRAM and the company is
now well placed to offer its customers Rambus product and advice ahead
of many other competitors.
Hypertec are also predicting that Direct Rambus will eventually
become the mainstream memory technology in the UK market, appearing
firstly in the workstation and high performance desktop markets and
then migrating to lesser specification machines as the availability of
Rambus increases and the costs fall. Existing SDRAM technology will
remain in the lower end of the PC market until at least 2002, whilst
it's derivatives DDR and DDR2 will also find some applications in
higher performance systems. According to Rambus Inc., Intel plans to
begin supporting Rambus memory systems in high-end desktop PCs during
1999. Subsequently, Mobile PCs, Basic PCs and servers will also move to
Direct Rambus memory although over a longer timescale. |
