The Pentium 4's SDRAM Advantage
Contrast this with AMD -- who wears its DDR blinders faithfully, and has its vendors doing the same. It's certainly a good business model to set DDR as the high-performance option for new Athlon XP processors, but the entry-level Duron is starting to feel the platform pinch. The vast majority of Duron SDRAM systems use the KT133A or KM133 chipsets, both of which are old designs and lack the latest enhancements. Although older Socket A chipsets had at least theoretical support for SDRAM, neither the SiS745 nor VIA KT266A lists it as an option.
In short, there's a wide gulf in feature sets between current AMD SDRAM and DDR options, which gives the Pentium 4 a huge advantage for lower-cost, feature-rich systems. Even with PC133 leveling the playing field, pitting the SiS645 against the decrepit KT133A is simply no contest. For example, the KT133A doesn't even have the upgraded 266MB/sec V-Link bus of newer VIA chipsets, while the SiS645 rides along on an expansive 533MB/sec data bus.
How a Duron or even Athlon XP SDRAM system is supposed to match the price/performance of a Pentium 4/SiS645 configuration is beyond me, especially with the AMD box powered by an over-the-hill chipset like the KT133A or KM133. While AMD seems to be hitting the lowest common denominator, many buyers want not only an inexpensive SDRAM-based desktop, but also a robust feature set, a fast system bus, and a ton of integrated options. In a market where memory prices change at the drop of a hat, AMD and its partners are just painting themselves tighter into the DDR corner.
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