To: Charles R who wrote (73011 ) 9/24/1999 4:06:00 PM From: Goutam Respond to
Chuck,Camino chipset delayed again; redesign likely, sources say The problem, discovered Thursday night by top-tier OEMs, concerns a decline in signal integrity when a third memory slot is used in conjunction with the Camino chipset, according to Intel's customers and industry sources. A redesign is likely, pushing out the adoption of Direct Rambus DRAM one to three months, analysts said. OEM officials said they were not willing to populate the systems with only 512 Mbytes of DRAM, the maximum allotted by the two memory slots. Micron Electronics Inc., Nampa, Idaho, said earlier it would use a competing chipset from Via Technologies Inc. because of the estimated cost of Rambus DRAM. Industry sources said early last week that they had discovered that the close proximity of Direct Rambus inline memory modules (RIMMs) created a thermal environment of up to 50 degrees centigrade in certain concentrated areas. However, the existing signal integrity problems apparently were aggravated by the additional heat, analysts said. The quickest way to solve the timing problem with three RIMM slots, sources said, is to shorten the memory bus line, now 10 cm long. Industry sources now believe Intel is doing exactly that. But if Intel cannot design a workaround as expected, than existing boards will have to be scrapped pending a redesign. "If that's true, then you've got really question... the fundamental implementation," said Scott Randall, analyst with Soundview Technology Group in Stamford, Mass. ?Intel's better be calling somebody on the carpet, whether it's Rambus, the Camino designers, or the motherboard designers.? ebnews.com
