Dan:
From Computer Reseller News We will be waiting to end of 1st Q for RDRAM in mass market.
techweb.com
August 16, 1999, Issue: 855
Section: Feature: Motherboards
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The Heart Of The System
Marcia Savage
This year saw the arrival of Intel Corp.'s 810 chipset and a host of motherboards sporting the integrated core logic.
From all indications, it appears integration will remain a major trend for motherboards in the near future. That means smaller, lower-cost boards, as well as the disappearance of ISA slots, motherboard manufacturers said.
Other motherboard trends VARs can expect to come include support for new memory technologies and increased support for socketed Intel processors.
Intel's 810 chipset, formerly code-named Whitney, set the integration trend. Introduced in April, the 810 reduces system cost by integrating graphics capabilities onto the chipset and enables software-based audio, modem and DVD capabilities. VARs can expect to see additional features, such as the networking chip, integrated into the chipset, said Henry Lu, vice president of sales and marketing at Micro-Star International Co. Ltd. (MSI), a Taiwan-based motherboard maker.
"Because of the high integration of the chipset, there are several trends," Lu said. "The total cost of the system will be lower. Second, motherboards will be getting smaller." That means more Micro ATX boards as well as more of the new, smaller FlexATX form factor, he said.
Intel plans to release Sept. 27 the 810e-a chipset similar to the 810 that will support a faster 133MHz system bus, sources said. Unlike the 810, which is designed to accompany the Celeron processor for low-cost PCs, the 810e is designed to accompany Pentium III chips.
Intel also plans to introduce another integrated chipset, code-named Solano, which is similar to the 810 in that it is expected to reduce system costs by integrating graphics capabilities, industry sources said. However, Solano, slated for production in the first quarter of 2000, will offer the option of upgrading to 4xAGP. The chipset will be designed to accompany the Celeron and Pentium III processors and target the value/mainstream segments of the PC market, sources said.
So far, motherboards featuring integrated core logic have targeted low-cost PCs, and some vendors said they see that direction continuing. "I see the integration trend hitting the low-end segments," said Don Clegg, vice president of marketing and strategic sales at Tyan Computer Corp., Fremont, Calif. "Undoubtedly, on the cost-sensitive segments of the market, there will be more and more integration. On the performance-sensitive segments, there still will be a need to have external peripherals so you always can have the latest and greatest add-in cards."
VARs' reactions to the integration trend in motherboards have been lukewarm, at best.
"[Integration] traditionally has not been a favorite of mine," said Lou Artale, president of PC Strategies Inc., a Canton, Ohio-based VAR. Built-in graphics do not allow for upgrades, he said. "I've always found it more difficult to turn off a portion of a board and drop in a higher-performance component. . . . It was so much easier to remove a card," he said.
Nonetheless, integration is taking hold, driving prices down and also pushing ISA out of the picture.
Many of the 810-based motherboards do not have ISA slots on them, said Nathan Brookwood, analyst at Insight 64, Saratoga, Calif. "Intel has a capability in the chipset for adding ISA capability, but most vendors aren't using it. As chipsets expand, who needs slots? What's to plug into them?" he said.
"We're seeing the death of ISA," said Brian Hamilton, national sales manager at Pine Technology USA Inc., a Fremont-based computer component manufacturer. "It's been talked about so long, finally we're starting to see it disappear," he said.
While ISA becomes a thing of the past on motherboards, socket support will become widespread as Intel shifts from slot packaging for its processors to socket packaging.
VARs can expect to see a new socketed version of the Pentium III from Intel Corp. later this year, sources said. The Pentium III currently is offered in the Slot 1 cartridge design to house the chip on the motherboard. The new socketed packaging for the Pentium III will be similar to the 370-pin socket used in Intel's Celeron processors, sources said.
In anticipation of the upcoming transition, some mainboard makers plan to offer products with support for both Slot 1 and Socket 370, giving users a choice.
While a shift to sockets appears to be a steady trend, less clear is what new memory technology will take precedence in the upcoming months. Intel's 820 chipset, due next month, will support Direct Rambus DRAM. But Intel has said it also is considering support for an alternative technology, 133MHz SDRAM, or PC133.
In light of the competing technologies, some board makers plan to offer boards that are capable of supporting either PC133 or Rambus. However, many in the industry said the cost and availability issues associated with Rambus will push adoption of PC133. "PC133 is easy to get, it's cheaper than Rambus, and it's available now in the market, so why not?" said William Yang, senior director of sales and marketing at Fremont-based Q-lity Computer Inc., a new motherboard company.
"In the short term, PC133 will be the winner," MSI's Lu said. "Rambus is too expensive and won't be very acceptable before the end of the first quarter in 2000."
"We think people bargain-hunting will go with PC133," said Ed Oppenheimer, vice president of sales at Fremont-based board maker Soyo Tek Inc.
While the PC market continues to reach out to bargain hunters, VARs should not see the sub-$600 PC as a threat, said Al Peng, product manager for motherboards at AOpen America Inc.
Customers buying basic systems will realize they need more powerful systems with better graphics or bigger hard drives to "bring out the best of the Internet," Peng said. "Therefore, I believe they will spend money and either buy a new system or upgrade," he said.
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