High-Speed Rambus Coming in 1999
Memory-performance leaps will depend on
radically redesigned motherboards.
by David Essex, special to PC World
January 18, 1999, 4:00 a.m. PT
High-performance RAM technologies are set to debut
this year in high-end PCs and workstations, while
per-megabyte prices will likely hold steady at their
current low levels, according to chip experts and PC
makers.
The big news will be the debut of Rambus DRAM,
which runs at 600 MHz and higher, more than four
times faster than the top limit of the already impressive
Synchronous DRAM that became dominant last year.
That means much better software performance and
improved speeds when running faster peripherals such
as DVD drives and hard disks. RDRAM also transfers
data more efficiently and can be upgraded one chip at a
time, providing more capacity options than SDRAM.
Intel has endorsed the technology and says its
next-generation CPUs, slated for late 1999, will support
it.
But motherboards and supporting chip technology will
have to be redesigned to accept RDRAM, possibly
slowing down its acceptance. Look for PC makers to
introduce the memory only in their most expensive
servers and workstations. "It probably won't be a huge
part of the market this year," says George Iwanyc,
senior analyst at Dataquest. "100-MHz synchronous
DRAM will probably maintain its dominance."
EDO Still Lingering at Low End
Some sub-$1000 PCs will continue to limp along with
the much older dirt-cheap EDO RAM, which runs at
only 40 MHz, while a few low-end vendors will try to
add value by building in 66-MHz SDRAM chips.
Midpriced $1000 to $2000 systems will come with 100-
or 133-MHz SDRAM that will run better thanks to the
availability of system buses that can keep up with
them, according to analysts.
Memory capacities of new systems will continue their
upward march, and 96MB or 128MB will become
standard, says Kevin Knox, research analyst at the
Gartner Group.
But don't look for any big drops in per-megabyte costs.
Jim Handy, principal analyst at Dataquest, expects
DRAM costs to stay level for two years. However,
Handy says, many manufacturers are selling RAM at a
loss, which will likely bring a shakeout followed by a
possible shortage in 2001. And recent sharp increases
in the value of the yen may bring higher prices in the
short term, says one PC product manager.
This is the first story in a five-part series on what to
expect in PC subsystems in 1999. Tomorrow: 3D
graphics.
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