<font color=darkorange>At IDF, Intel to address SDRAM use in next-generation processors
By Jack Robertson
Electronic Buyers' News
(08/04/00, 04:34:23 PM EST)
Something you wouldn't expect to hear at the Intel Developer Forum later this month but will: Intel executives recommending single-data-rate SDRAMs for the company's next-generation IA-32 and IA-64 processors.
At the same time, double-data-rate (DDR) SDRAMs will get scant notice at the IDF, scheduled for Aug. 22-24 in San Jose. Instead, Intel Corp., Santa Clara, Calif., will showcase its broad push into the networking and telecommunications markets, while the company's traditional processor and memory road maps will be scoured closely for clues to Intel's shifting business strategies.
Pat Gelsinger, vice president and chief technology officer of the Intel Architecture Business Unit, said in a pre-IDF briefing last week that SDRAM will play a role in the upcoming Pentium 4 in what he defined as “price point” markets.
Gelsinger reiterated Intel's position that Direct Rambus DRAM is still the company's preferred memory for the Pentium 4-which sources said will debut later this year as a high-end Direct RDRAM-only CPU for workstations and top-of-the-line PCs. A version for the midrange market that will include support for SDRAM is expected to follow in 2001, according to industry sources familiar with Intel's processor road map.
This runs counter to Intel's stance at the last IDF six months ago, when Direct RDRAM was positioned as the only feasible memory for the Pentium 4. Intel executives at the time said PC133 SDRAM with a peak 1-GHz/s data rate was a mismatch for the 3.2-GHz/s capability of the new IA-32 Pentium chip.
Gelsinger last week, however, said, “For many price points, PC133 SDRAM can still offer performance benefits with Pentium 4. The high cache memory [included] with Pentium 4 ameliorates the [data rate] difference with SDRAMs. It makes a slow memory look fast.”
Michael Fister, vice president and general manager of Intel's Enterprise Platform Group, said the fourth-quarter launch of the company's first 64-bit processor, the Itanium, will receive the spotlight at IDF. Fister dismissed analysts' claims that the Itanium is merely an entry point for Intel, and would be superseded by the 64-bit McKinley in the fourth quarter of 2001.
“We're planning an aggressive ramp-up for Itanium,” he said. “It will allow adopters to deploy their technology and gain expertise and experience. These end users will then be in position to transition quickly to McKinley a year later.”
Gelsinger confirmed that the Itanium will not offer support for Direct Rambus memory, but instead will run only with single-data-rate SDRAM-and 100-MHz PC100 SDRAM at that.
The server market for which Itanium is targeted can achieve the desired memory bandwidth by ganging together large numbers of inexpensive PC100 chips, said Gelsinger, who declined to discuss how Itanium, with PC100 memory, would compete against new servers coming onto the market in the first quarter of 2001 that are expected to feature DDR SDRAM running at about 266 MHz.
In fact, DDR SDRAM is not expected to receive much attention at IDF. The updated Intel memory road map to be unveiled at IDF won't show a DDR chipset until mid-2001, when the first IA-32 Foster processor for the enterprise server market is unveiled, according to sources.
The Itanium's PC100 memory support has to be something of a disappointment for Intel, according to Nathan Brookwood, an analyst at Insight64, Saratoga, Calif. The Itanium fell victim to chronic delays as Intel fought to move the 64-bit architecture out the door, Brookwood said.
“When Itanium [then code-named Merced] started development three years ago, PC100 wasn't even in the market and Direct Rambus was then in the distant future,” he said. “At that time, PC100 looked like a good choice, but has now been far overtaken by rapid technology growth in the market.”
Intel executives said that half of the IDF sessions will be devoted to 32-bit and 64-bit platforms, with the remainder focused on software and networking and wireless applications.
IDF has been moved to the San Jose Convention Center and surrounding hotels, having outgrown its traditional Palm Springs, Calif., venue. Matt Haller, Intel platform evangelist, said attendance is expected to jump 66%, to 5,000. The number of technical sessions will double to 260, and exhibits by Intel partners will jump from 100 to 170.
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