Intel Sticks With Rambus Choice for P4
Despite SDRAM plans, chip giant still backs RDRAM as best fit for the Pentium 4.
Tom Mainelli, PCWorld.com
Wednesday, February 28, 2001
SAN JOSE, CALIFORNIA -- Despite their sometimes rocky relationship, Intel still loves Rambus and maintains that the memory designed by Rambus is the best to use with Intel's Pentium 4 processor.
Though the chip maker decided to offer an SDRAM-based chip set for use with its P4 processor, Intel would rather see RDRAM in all P4 desktops, said Intel Fellow Pete MacWilliams during a talk at the Intel Developers Forum here Tuesday.
"We'd like to see RDRAM from top to bottom," he said, suggesting the memory is right for everything from high-end performance computers to value-priced desktops.
Intel's rapid P4 production could make that possible, as memory vendors increase production of RDRAM to satiate growing demand, he said. More production equals greater yields, which should push down prices, he said.
Rambus doesn't manufacture RDRAM itself, but it designed the memory and charges licensing fees to vendors that make it. The company also holds patents to SDRAM and DDR technologies, and is engaged in lawsuits with several memory companies over licensing fees.
Rambus President David Mooring says he isn't surprised by Intel's renewed show of support, and notes the company has repeatedly said RDRAM will "always be the preferred memory" for the P4.
But for RDRAM prices to drop notably, it will take more than just increased yields, Mooring adds. "It's the decision of the DRAM vendors as to how low the price will go," he says.
SDRAM: A Lesser Choice for P4
Market demand could shift memory prices, Intel's MacWilliams notes. If customers want SDRAM with the P4 because it's cheaper, Intel will be there, he said.
The company plans an SDRAM-based chip set for the second half of this year, he said. But the company expects that chip set will be used in about one-third, at most, of P4 systems, meaning Rambus will still be the dominant memory.
Intel designed the P4 to use RDRAM, so using SDRAM will hurt performance, he said. For less-demanding users the cost savings may make SDRAM more appealing, but performance-hungry users will still want RDRAM, he said.
You don't have to be from Intel to agree that SDRAM and the P4 won't mix well, according to Kevin Krewell, senior analyst with MicroDesign Resources. P4 systems paired with PC-133 SDRAM will suffer a dramatic performance hit compared with RDRAM systems, he says. This is especially true of the streaming-media applications for which Intel designed the P4, he says.
DDR Is Option, Until Rambus Prices Fall
Intel is also developing DDR-based chip sets that work with the P4. DDR is considered RDRAM's main competition in the performance memory category. Intel expects to offer a DDR-based chip set for servers later this year, but won't offer DDR for the desktop until next year, MacWilliams said.
Intel sees DDR falling somewhere between SDRAM and RDRAM in performance and price, he said. But if RDRAM prices drop as expected, DDR won't be necessary, he said.
And indeed the prices may drop, said Jon Kang, vice president of Samsung, the largest producer of RDRAM. To show its support for Rambus, Intel invited three memory vendors keen on RDRAM to discuss their production plans. Representatives from Elpida and Toshiba also addressed the conference Tuesday.
In the last year, "Rambus was too bloody expensive for you guys to use," Kang noted. But he expects that will change in 2001, as Samsung reduces costs by increasing production.
Last year Samsung produced 64 million pieces of RDRAM; in 2001 it plans to make 240 million. RDRAM will make up 30 percent of its product mix this year, Kang said.
"The manufacturers are finally getting their act together, but it took a year and a half," analyst Krewell notes.
With manufacturers ramping up production, and the P4 reaching more mainstream customers, RDRAM could finally become more than a niche product, Krewell said.
"Intel paid a dear price for going with Rambus," Krewell said. "They may feel vindicated about that choice by the end of the year."
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