Intel Looks 'Very Seriously' At DDR For Desktops

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October 18, 2000 (2:13 PM EDT)

Intel Looks 'Very Seriously' At DDR For Desktops

By Mark Hachman,

Intel Corp. has said it is looking "very seriously" at using double-data-rate memory with its desktop PC chipsets -- a statement that puts its relationship with Rambus Inc. in even greater doubt.

In response to analyst questions during its third-quarter earnings report, Intel executives shifted their public stance on DDR memory.

"As we have said before, we are adopting DDR technology for servers, and exploring DDR on desktop," said Paul Otellini, vice president of the Intel Architecture Group in Santa Clara, Calif. To a followup question from an analyst, Otellini added, "We're looking very, very seriously at it."

While the statement doesn't set Intel's plans in stone, it's also a further indication that Intel may be straying further away from Rambus. Intel (stock: INTC) failed to include a session on its future memory strategy at the Intel Developer Forum in August, leaving the company's chipset and memory policy the topic of rumors, product roadmaps, and back-room discussions.

Otellini's comments also potentially confirm a two-week-old report by Electronic Buyers' News. Several major DRAM producers and module makers have told EBN that they are shipping unbuffered DIMMs to Intel in large enough quantities to validate a DDR chipset. A DDR chipset for servers, which the company has openly said it is developing, would use buffered DIMMs.

In February, however, Intel executives at the Spring IDF tied the forthcoming Pentium 4 to the Direct Rambus memory architecture, claiming Intel's high-speed Pentium 4 would demand an equally high-performance memory architecture. Over time, Intel backed away, responding to what analysts said were concerns over the high cost of Direct Rambus chips.

The disclosure would not necessarily tie DDR to the Pentium 4, either. Sources have named the Almador, a chipset designed primarily for the Pentium III, and the Brookdale, a similar mass-market PC chipset for the Pentium 4, as possible suspects.

SDRAM is considered a cheaper alternative to Direct Rambus memory, though it offers lower bandwidth. DDR DRAM is seen as an evolutionary means to achieve performance parity with Direct Rambus, while keeping costs down.

Memory vendors such as giant Micron Technology Inc. (stock: MU) distinctly favor DDR. In their earnings report, Micron company executives showed slides characterizing Rambus as a tiny sliver of overall DRAM production during the next year or so.

A spokeswoman for Rambus Inc., Mountain View, Calif., did not respond to requests for comment.