Intel offers non-Rambus chipsets for Pentium 4
TAIPEI, June 4 (Reuters) - Intel Corp (NasdaqNM:INTC - news), the world's largest microchip maker, said on Monday it would offer its first chipsets for the Pentium 4 processor to allow customers to use alternatives to fast but pricey Rambus memory chips.
Intel's new 845 chipset for the Pentium 4 would support dynamic random access memory (DRAM) chips running at 133 Mhz, the current mainstream for memory chips, the U.S. chip giant said in an announcement at Taipei's Computex 2001 trade show.
Intel's powerful Pentium 4 processor first launched in late 2000 using memory technology developed by Rambus Inc (NasdaqNM:RMBS - news), which is many times faster than the current standard, but some personal computer makers complain the chips are too expensive.
The Intel 845 is the U.S. firm's first non-Rambus chipset for the Pentium 4 to be manufactured in-house, though it has licensed Taiwan's Silicon Integrated Sytems and Acer Laboratories Inc to make similar products.
``The upcoming Intel 845 chipset will deliver an increasing range of system price points for the Pentium 4 processor platforms for both consumer and business users,'' said William Siu, general manager of Intel's desktop platforms group.
Intel said in a statement the chipset, which helps a computer's microprocessor brain communicate with the rest of the system, would be scheduled for delivery in the second half of 2001. |
