To: John Farrell who wrote (40707 ) 4/25/2000 6:04:00 AM From: Bilow Respond to
Hi John Farrell; History of the loss of the Compaq server win:Compaq licenses DRDRAM -- Designing high-speed memory into its servers, workstations Jun 29, 1998Despite its recent gains, as well as the support of Direct RDRAM co-developer Intel Corp., Rambus has still to convince the entire industry that its memory interface, when it is introduced next year, will dominate the computing landscape. techweb.com Intel preps Direct Rambus for servers Aug 17, 1998Though Compaq Computer Corp. plans to use Direct Rambus DRAMs in its Alpha-based servers, the Houston company's technology road map is counting on Rambus to deliver a next-generation RDRAM with higher bandwidth, to become available when Merced-class servers reach the market in several years. techweb.com How Many Megabytes of Memory Are Too Many? Nov 16, 1998RDRAM is looking at a major opportunity in the server market techweb.com DDR tugs tiger's tail Dec 7, 1998Subodh Toprani, vice president and general manager of Rambus' logic products division noted that Compaq Computer Corp. has already committed its server line to Direct RDRAM. He said any support for DDR among high-end computer companies is rash and stems from early commitments to the technology. "My belief is that subsequent to this product cycle, they will come back to Rambus because it has better performance and better price," he said. techweb.com DDR picks up steam Dec 7, 1998Though microprocessor vendors Intel, Advanced Micro Devices and Cyrix have endorsed the Rambus architecture for PCs, as has Compaq Computer's server division, Rambus has yet to convince most server manufacturers that the narrow, 16-bit Rambus channel can effectively scale to the multi-gigabyte main memories used in larger servers, analysts said. techweb.com Intel may back PC133 after all Jul 26, 1999But Peter MacWilliams, Intel fellow and director of platform architecture, last week stressed that the Santa Clara, Calif., company is in no way backing off from its strong commitment to Direct RDRAM, still slated for a September launch along with Intel's new Camino 820 core-logic and memory-controller chipset. "We're convinced Direct Rambus will be the next-generation memory for PC desktops, workstations, and servers," MacWilliams said. techweb.com Samsung Races To Secure Alpha Design Win Dec 7, 1999The new Alpha/Athlon chip sets will support PC133 and double data rate SDRAM memory chips, but not Direct Rambus DRAM. Despite the dedication of Samsung's semiconductor subsidiary to the high-speed interface, Chin said the OEMs the new chip sets are targeting haven't yet selected Direct RDRAM as a memory option. techweb.com Rambus revs for comms Dec 13, 1999"All of our top OEM customers are telling us that they expect to use a lot of DDR memory next year," said Derrough. Hyundai has confirmed that Compaq Computer Corp. and Dell Computer Corp. are both using Hyundai's DDR chips in upcoming server designs. techweb.com
