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Technology Stocks : Rambus (RMBS) - Eagle or Penguin -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Jdaasoc who wrote (28398)	9/1/1999 9:38:00 PM
From: IceShark	Respond to of 93625

What are you talking about? The documents that have been there since April?

To: Jdaasoc who wrote (28398)	9/1/1999 9:48:00 PM
From: Dave B	Respond to of 93625

Jd, I suspect the price reductions on the Deskpro models are due to: 1) price drops on Intel processors, and (more importantly) 2) the need to clear out old inventory to make way for all of the new Intel processors coming out. I'm pretty sure that Compaq said that they wouldn't have Rambus-based systems until Q1 next year. <edit: The document below, as IceShark correctly points out, is dated April 1999> <edit 2: However, if you follow the options and accessories links from the Deskpro page, you get to: compaq.com which still provides customers a view of RDRAM (i.e. still appears current to the customer)> The RDRAM Memory Overview Documentation was terrific! I think this is the link you meant to post: ftp://ftp.compaq.com/pub/products/desktops/MemoryTechOvr.pdf Here are some excerpts: The Need for New Memory Technology and Architecture The dramatic progress of DRAM technology in the last decade can be largely attributed to the PC industry. While device densities have increased from 1Kbit per chip to 64MB per chip and higher, DRAM performance has not kept pace. In parallel to these memory technology advances, microprocessor performance has jumped by several orders of magnitude. This growing microprocessor-memory performance gap prompted memory designers to create new solutions. Initial attempts resulted in complicated architectures that provided performance growth but were cost prohibitive. To help close the microprocessor-memory performance gap, Rambus Inc. developed the Direct Rambus Channel?. The Direct Rambus Channel has a data width of 16-bits (2 bytes). Combining that with two transfers per clock yields an effective bandwidth of 1.2GB for 600MHz-speed memory and 1.6GB for the 800MHz-speed memory. This new memory operates up to 10 times faster than conventional DRAM on 66MHz FSB systems and up to 3 times faster for comparable 100MHz FSB systems. And... RAMBUS VS. SDRAM A single Direct Rambus Channel is engineered to deliver three times the bandwidth over a comparable SDRAM PC-100 memory system. The Rambus channel achieves its high-speed operation through a combination of techniques that include dense packaging, high quality tight tolerance transmission lines, low-voltage signaling (1.8 V) and highly precise clocking. These techniques provide Rambus technology a significant performance advantage over comparable 100MHz SDRAM systems. While the cost of a D-RDRAM is greater than the older generation SDRAM solutions, the overall performance advantage of D-RDRAM memory-based systems make them an excellent price/performance solution for demanding processor speeds, multimedia applications and visually rich Internet content applications. Furthermore, systems equipped with Direct RDRAM support offer maximum opportunity to scale performance into 2000 and beyond as applications requiring more and more memory bandwidth become pervasive in the enterprise. As D-RDRAM technology matures, the pricing gap between D-RDRAM and SDRAM is expected to significantly narrow. DIRECT RDRAM BENEFITS D-RDRAM is a natural transition for customers who already plan to adopt 820-based platforms along with 133MHz generation of faster microprocessors in 1H99 and who expect the highest system performance for demanding, content-rich applications. D-RDRAM technology is expected to be the next generation mainstream memory technology in 2000, and D-RDRAM-based systems purchased in 1999 will protect future enterprise investments and scale performance beyond year 2000 equirements. Benefits: ú Three times the bandwidth over a comparable SDRAM 100MHz FSB memory system ú Natural transition for customers planning to adopt 820 platforms to gain the benefits of AGP 4X, 133MHz FSB and future performance growth path ú Next generation mainstream technology ú Supported by major participants in industry (all major PC OEMs) Sounds like Compaq is on board 100%! Dave