Alan,
This one is even better <gg>
February 15, 1999, Issue: 1147
Section: News
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Trying to catch the 133-MHz bus
Jack Robertson
The oddsmakers are saying Intel's next-generation Camino and Carmel chipsets and the 133-MHz Pentium III processor bus, slated to debut in May or June, will be delayed until fall. By contrast, the same chip bookies are betting Advanced Micro Devices will introduce its K6-3 in the next month with a 133-MHz bus, gaining perhaps a half-year edge on Intel.
And therein could lie a tale of fierce competition.
For the record, Intel says there is no delay in Camino, Carmel, or the 133-MHz bus, although the company hasn't specified a rollout date. And AMD has declined to discuss what processor bus speed its upcoming K6-3 will have. But independent chipset and PC133 SDRAM suppliers are all gearing up to link with the K6-3 and are banking on an AMD 133-MHz bus.
Intel, out to kill the K6-3 at its birth, has been offering competitive Celeron processors with on-chip L2 cache and prices slashed to the bone. The scenario could be likened to David and Goliath-except for the 133-MHz bus that AMD will likely have and Intel won't.
That would give AMD 33% faster memory and lower latency in memory-access time. A 133-MHz bus is also a zippier pipeline to the processor, easing the growing bottleneck to ever-rocketing MPU speeds.
Intel pooh-poohs any 133-MHz architectural advantage over its current 100-MHz bus. With some justification, the chip giant points out the myriad bus/chipset/DRAM/memory module interfaces and connections that must be meshed precisely to make the new 133-MHz speed pay off. The 133-MHz camp is just as insistent that it can meet the challenge.
The stakes on both sides are enormous. If 133-MHz architecture and memory gain a beachhead before Intel gets a comparable entry on the street, the Kill K6 juggernaut now under way could be upset.
And so far, Intel's 133-MHz Camino and Carmel chipsets are designed to work solely with next-generation Direct Rambus memory. That could only intensify the mortal combat between 133-MHz architecture with conventional PC133 SDRAM and Intel's mandated switch to the radical new Direct RDRAM design.
Rumors are rife that Intel has its own fallback in the wings-alternate versions of Camino and Carmel that will also work with PC133 SDRAM. Intel has consistently denied any such plans.
In any event, the independent chipset makers-Via Technologies, SiS, Acer Laboratories, and Reliance Computer-all claim they'll have chipsets linking PC133 SDRAMs to Slot 1 Pentium III's over any Intel 133-MHz processor bus, even if Intel doesn't have such a chipset itself.
The looming chip D-Day may not be on a Spielberg scale, but it sure could get plenty bloody before it's over.
Copyright ® 1999 CMP Media Inc.
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