Next-Generation Personal Computers Coming into Sight
October 29, 2001 (TOKYO) -- Personal computers are on the road toward higher-performance specifications with very different types of CPUs, buses and memories to be implemented in the coming years.
In summary, in the next-generation PCs, new CPUs will be equipped with a virtual processor function, and the PCI bus will be replaced with a higher-speed serial interface. As for the memory, they will also see major changes, with the introduction of DDR SDRAMs in place of the current diffusion type of SDRAM.
Today, few PCs provided by major makers are equipped with DDR memory. However, chances are high for DDR to become the mainstream of next-generation memory, because Intel has decided to support DDR memories.
The two types, PC2100 and PC1600, are apparent candidates that will support DDR-enabled i845 CPU coming on the market in 2002. The PC2100 type features a data transfer speed at 2.1GB per second, which is faster than the speed of Rambus memory at 1.6GB per second. However, because DDR is used as an add-on memory in terms of single units, its total performance falls short of that of using Rambus memory which would reach 3.2GB per second. Therefore, it is highly possible that DDR-enabled i845 cannot surpass the performance of i850. Consequently, Rambus memory will be applied to high-end machines, and DDR to mid-range and low-end machines.
Roadmaps for DDR and Rambus
nikkeibp.asiabiztech.com |
