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

To: Drake who wrote (8912)	10/24/1998 12:39:00 PM
From: MileHigh	Respond to of 93625

Obviously, since I am a shareholder, I would disagree with this man's opinion....After all, will the intel investment drive prices higher and take the technology away form other DRAM manu's and OEM's? ABSOLUTELY NOT! It will make the technology widely available, cheaper and abundant.....Now if Intel bought RMBS, that could raise some eyebrows......Read on... MileHigh Search Home Advanced Search Search Help Web Search October 26, 1998, Issue: 1032 Section: Opinion/Letters -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Wake up, FTC Rick Boyd-Merritt The irony was rich indeed when Intel Corp. announced it was making a $500 million investment in Micron Technology just days before the Department of Justice's antitrust trial against Microsoft Corp. was scheduled to begin. If Washington ever needed an example of a dominant company in the PC industry trying to use its clout to direct the future of markets outside its domain, the Intel/Micron investment is it. Micron has positioned itself as a leading supplier of alternative high-performance memories, including double-data-rate DRAMs and Synclink DRAMs. But Intel is staking its PC and microprocessor road maps next year to the rise of Direct Rambus DRAMs, and struck a deal to invest the $500 million in Micron with the understanding that the money-Intel's largest single investment in an outside company-would be used to fund a Rambus push. Micron claims it will continue to differentiate itself by offering alternatives to Rambus, but I have to wonder about the depth of its commitment given such a large investment from Intel. For its part, Intel claimed it was trying to ensure a robust supply of the relatively complex Rambus parts at a time when ailing memory makers in Asia are loath to invest in new technologies, but again I find it hard to believe. Intel would not gain directly from any sales of Rambus parts. But it stands to lose in a big way if there is not an adequate supply of Rambus parts for the motherboards, processors and chip sets it hopes to ship next year-or if PC makers spend a significant amount of their time in 1999 building designs around any alternatives to the vision Intel has articulated. I suspect it will become increasingly difficult for PC engineers to make a case for building systems with non-Intel parts following this deal. Ironically, Micron's PC division had considered designing its own core logic for at least two projects, but the last I heard the company couldn't get a license to the Intel Pentium II processor bus that would enable such silicon. If the Federal Trade Commission waits as long to review the Intel/Micron deal as the Department of Justice did to address Microsoft's tactics with an integrated browser, the whole matter will be reduced to an historical case study of a once more-diverse DRAM industry. Hello, Washington, is anyone listening? Copyright ® 1998 CMP Media Inc.

To: Drake who wrote (8912)	10/24/1998 12:42:00 PM
From: MileHigh	Respond to of 93625

October 26, 1998, Issue: 1132 Section: Products -- Interconnect -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Molex connectors to ease shift to Rambus modules Molex Inc. has developed and begun marketing connectors that will ease the expected transition to Rambus memory technology. It's a connector that will accept either SDRAM or Rambus memory modules. Many believe the Rambus in-line memory module (RIMM) will become the successor to the single- and dual-in-line memory modules, but there will be a transitional period in which synchronous RIMMs (SRIMMs) will provide a bridge technology. Many of the leading PC providers are planning to shift to Rambus memory technology, driven by Intel's decision to put Rambus support in its chipsets. But Rambus chips are not expected to ship in high volumes for awhile. For its contribution to this transitional period, Molex has developed connectors that will house memory modules that hold RAM chips, yet are mechanically and electrically compatible with RIMMs. These SRIMM sockets are also the same size as DIMM sockets. While RIMMs have 168 contacts, SRIMM sockets have 184 connection points. The extra contacts are needed to let common SDRAM chips communicate by means of RIMM connections. The SRIMM sockets also have the speed needed for Rambus devices, providing transmission speeds of 800 MHz and 1.6-Gbyte/s peak bandwidth. This means that if RIMMs are inserted into these SRIMM sockets, they will operate correctly, since the 16 additional contacts are in an area where RIMMs don't have electrical connections. To run at those high frequencies, Molex has employed two types of contacts within the connector. The contacts for power and ground are larger than those used for signals. Using larger power and ground contacts makes these contacts look more like ground planes. This helps reduce crosstalk and interference, which become more of a problem as frequencies rise. Executives at Lisle, Ill.-based Molex think the SRIMMs will have a fairly short lifetime. But they will be opening up the market for what's expected to be a major product for the connector company, which will also make RIMM sockets. "We see volumes in the first year ramping very quickly, and we've taken a worldwide approach to answer that," said Kevin Alberts, product manager at Molex's Data Products Division. The connectors have dual latches and metal forklocks for secure connections. Gold plating is also standard. In quantities of 25,000, socket connectors are priced at $1.95, with eight-week lead times. (800) 786-6539 www.molex.com Copyright ® 1998 CMP Media Inc.