Carl, re: x-box, the alleged pending switch to Rambus was a hot topic for the John Corse contingent on Usenet a while back. Personally, I think the most interesting thing about the x-box is its memory architecture, Nvidia was claiming 6 gigabyte bandwidth for its 256 bit wide DDR design, which turns the standard PC knock against low perf UMA graphics on its head. If Nvidia can produce that, I think they ought to go into the chipset business, that would give them a way to make much money with the technology in the 18 months before X-box launches. 18 months if you trust Microsoft's software schedule, that is.
The Rambus logic seems to be that since Bill picked Intel for the processor (600 mhz, e.g. extremely minimal for 18 months from now), a switch to Rambus was inevitable. That would imply a complete rearchitecting of the X-box, which seems to be designed much more around the graphics chip than the processor.
A paragraph above the one you quote from techweb.com :
The choice of DDR memory for the X-Box is also significant. Console maker Nintendo appears to be preparing for a shift from Rambus memories used in its current Nintendo 64 console to DDR-II in its upcoming Dolphin system. Like the X-Box, Dolphin is also slated for a Christmas 2001 launch. The Playstation 2, by contrast, uses two channels of Direct Rambus.
Well, this horse may not be dead yet, but a visit to the vet sure seems in order. I think I will take a be kind to animals pledge here and leave the local self-styled "BS detectors" to their own devices. It's a tough job, maintaining the BS in RMBS.
Cheers, Dan. |
