AMD-760 Demo and DDR Chipset Certification (HARDWARE)
Posted By Brian Neal
Monday, June 12, 2000 - 2:32:29 PM
Thanks to etech for sending in this c't link (German) about the AMD 760 chipset and DDR SDRAM. Apparently, there were no working chipsets/motherboard on the show floor at COMPUTEX 2000, but demonstrations were held behind closed doors.
Systems with up to two double DATA rate SDRAM modules full-led first test runs with some producers already once. With a short test the chip record proved as for early prototypes already quite stably and also the performance was tidy. According to rumors the core comes from ALI; however neither AMD nor ALI wanted to commentate that.
As you can see from the very poor translation above, AMD-760 motherboards were demonstrated with two DDR SDRAM modules. The 2-way multiprocessor version, 760MP, was not mentioned, so I suppose it probably wasn't demoed...understandable considering AMD's main market is uniprocessor systems. As far as DDR SDRAM supplies are concerned, the article had this to say:
So that it does not come during the introduction of the new technique to bottlenecks with the supply of suitable memory modules, all large producers develop at present feverful. Some, as for instance Apacer, the MEMORY division of Acer, can supply samples already now.
Another issue beyond memory supplies and manufacturer support is chipset stability. This is certainly of some concern considering VIA's latest problems with the KT133. Though the transation is very rough, the article seems to indicate that DDR SDRAM partners are looking to require some sort of certification process for DDR components. Considering VIA's track-record, this could be very good news:
For the boards, which are based on VIA chipsets, the enterprise wants to take over certifying. So it is to be guaranteed that only perfect Designs come on the market. aceshardware.com
Milo |
