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Politics : Formerly About Advanced Micro Devices -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: grok who wrote (60188)	6/1/1999 11:11:00 PM
From: Elmer	Respond to of 1570766

Re: "Elmer, why do you say Win98 benchmarks are a luxury for K7? " Actually I don't know for certain that they are. What is clear is that Intel processors always score poorly compared to AMD processors when running Win98, due primarily to the use of 16bit code which the P6 architecture doesn't handle well. Under WinNT, especially high end applications, the Intel processors do much better. What remains to be seen is how the K7 does running WinNT. It may fair much better. That remains to be seen. EP

To: grok who wrote (60188)	6/1/1999 11:26:00 PM
From: Cirruslvr	Read Replies (3) \| Respond to of 1570766

Good article with info Paul - This should ease your fears about the K7 not having any OEM support when it comes out. ____________________________________________________________________ Rambus getting cold shoulder By Michael Kanellos Staff Writer, CNET News.com June 1, 1999, 7:05 p.m. PT TAIPEI, Taiwan--Although Intel is putting its weight behind Rambus, cost and other obstacles mean several key companies are lukewarm about the memory technology. AMD's K7 processor, which rolls out later this month, will not likely be matched with Rambus memory in computers until next year, said Alan Au, AMD's director of sales for greater China. Instead, the K7 will likely be matched with plain 100-Mhz DRAM, then the speedier 133-MHz DRAM, then other, faster versions of that lineage. In any event, the calendar seems to ensure that the initial flotilla of K7 machines won't use Rambus. The K7 is expected at the end of the month, the same time K7-based computers might also arrive. But the chipsets on the market right now, which serve as the interface between the processor and main memory, do not yet speak the language of Rambus. Although Rambus has been virtually anointed as the standard bearer for the future of computer memory, the company has been saddled with product delays and technical glitches in 1999, which in turn have delayed the debut of Rambus-based PCs from the middle of the year to the end of the third quarter. But even more critical, the company may start to feel the squeeze of cheaper alternatives and the industry's obsession with keeping desktop prices as low as possible. Umax chairman Frank Huang and Acer president Simon Lin shared similar skeptical feelings. Right now, Rambus memory costs about $45 more per chip than standard 64MB memory, which considerably hikes the price of a PC, said Lin. In fact, Lin said that current supply for Rambus processors is outstripping demand. In other words, even with a Rambus surplus, the chips are still too expensive for PC manufacturers to justify. Huang further added that all the production glitches have yet to be worked out. "It is not 100 percent yet," he said. Umax, which makes memory along with a number of products, has a license to make Rambus but will concentrate on 100-MHz and 133-MHz memory. The companies that are mainly active in manufacturing Rambus, he added, are Samsung and Micron, both of them recipients of multimilion dollar investments from Intel to manufacture Rambus memory. "Intel cannot control everything," Huang added. Rambus stock dropped today on reports that IBM was considering dropping support for Rambus. Rambus awaits key Intel chip Intel in many ways is the focus of Rambus. Intel is adjusting its silicon platform to use Rambus memory. The first Rambus chipset from Intel, called Camino, comes out in September. Intel will also release an additional chip with Camino that will allow standard memory to be used. However, Intel executives have characterized this as a transitional element. Intel, like Compaq with its Alpha chip and National Semiconductor, will integrate a Rambus memory controller into a chip next year. If anything, the big news in Taiwan seems to be about 133-MHz memory. 133-MHz memory allows a peak data transfer rate 33 percent faster than today's standard memory. Companies this week at the Computex computer show are announcing memory modules and other products that can accomodate this faster memory. Current 100-MHz memory technology allows a peak communication speed between CPU and memory of 800 megabytes per second. 133-MHz memory increases that theoretical peak to 1,033 MB/sec. Rambus offers a theoretical top speed of 1,600 MB/sec. Some PC stores already are offering 133-MHz memory in build-to-order PCs in the streets of Taipei. As for the K7, sources say that Compaq is readying a K7 desktop computer to coincide with the chip's launch. Other big vendors are expected to announce support for the chip at the time as well. Motherboard makers say AMD is performing the final tweaks on the platform now. Au would not comment on the release of the K7, but said that, historically, AMD synchronizes a chip launch with product releases from computer vendors and the world should not expect anything different this time. ______________________________________________________________________ As you have just read, AMD isn't dependent on the DELAYED RDRAM. And before some of you try to throw this comment "Motherboard makers say AMD is performing the final tweaks on the platform now" in our faces, platform does NOT equal processor.