This article is more than 1 year old

SIS to offer Rambus chipset for Pentium 4?

Email from spokesman suggests so

The mysterious developer of a second Rambus-based chipset for Intel's Pentium 4 could be SIS.

Rumours that Intel's P4-oriented, RDRAM-based 850 chipset would soon be joined by a third-party product began to circulate late last August. However, it was not clear just who the speculation centred upon.

Acer Labs, ATI and SIS have licensed Intel's Pentium 4 bus technology.

Now an SIS staffer has written in an email that the company may "support Rambus", according to a report on CNet. No details are given, and the tone of the CNet item suggests that the plan is something the chipset maker is considering rather than committing itself to.

Indeed, with the P4 market shifting away from Rambus - initially through Intel's 845 PC133 chipset and DDR parts from VIA (less so because of Intel's legal action), Acer and SIS - its hard to see why it might do so. Even Intel, once Rambus' most fervent supporter, appears to be stepping back from the technology, at least in the short to medium term. The company has dropped plans to support quad-channel RDRAM through a new chipset and instead update its existing 850 part.

SIS may see an opportunity in that decision. ®

Related Story

Mystery chipset maker set to launch Rambus, Pentium 4 part

More about

TIP US OFF

Send us news


Other stories you might like