To: Bilow who wrote (73233 ) 5/18/2001 6:32:33 PM From: Dave B Read Replies (4) | Respond to DDR can be made on the same lines as SDRAM, so it, too, can become the mainstream memory design. can be made on the same lines as SDRAM is just one factor that may help it become mainstream memory. Even Scumbria has figured out that it's a business issue, not a technical one, at this point.The only reason DDR isn't already as cheap as SDRAM is because there are fewer makers of DDR than there are of SDRAM. It's too bad for the memory makers that SDRAM prices are low right now, but all those low prices do is cement SDRAM as an even harder to dislodge mainstream standard memory. Just because an item is bad news for the memory makers doesn't mean that it is automatically good news for Rambus. There may be some more fab space available for manufacturing RDRAM, but there has been fab space available for this for many months and RDRAM is nevertheless very expensive. Fact is that RDRAM is a more expensive product to manufacture. As Scumbria and Jdaasoc have both repeatedly pointed out, the performance advantage of DDR (or RDRAM) over SDRAM for the system as a whole is minuscule, consequently DDR (or RDRAM) will only replace SDRAM if the pricing is near identical. What we are seeing now is daily crashes in the price of DDR. I took a quick look at Pricewatch, and it looks like when I update the figures in a few hours DDR will have made another massive step towards SDRAM pricing. When DDR reaches SDRAM pricing, the industry will switch. The daily drop in prices is an indication that Micron is hurrying this process along. Until then, DDR will only be bought by speed demons... ...and the guys who have to be the first on the block with something new. The same would apply to RDRAM, except that Intel forced RDRAM on to the market by not supporting alternatives. When Intel supports SDRAM and DDR for the P4, this advantage that RDRAM had (a captive market), will go away.
