Intel is planning on making SDRAM DIMM solutions available for the foreseeable future. This gives price conscious consumers a way to purchase Intel's best. But with Willamette coming at the end of 2000, we expect to see a lot more RDRAM in new systems than SDRAM. In the meantime, motherboards with two DIMM slots and two RIMM slots should be widely available by mid-2000.

DDR SDRAM

As for DDR SDRAM, it certainly has life in it, but we believe it is going to have trouble keeping up with RDRAM in the long run. With today's technology, a PC with two channels of RDRAM can have up to 3.2GB/s of bandwidth. In contrast, DDR SDRAM is not available for desktop PCs as of yet.

Everybody Wins

RDRAM's high-performance and success will be good for Intel in the mid-term since Intel already has the technology for RDRAM in place. But in the long run, RDRAM should be good for all desktop computing. VIA and AMD already have licenses from Rambus and Intel cannot stop VIA and AMD from using RDRAM. While Intel has invested heavily in Rambus and is pushing the technology, Rambus is not a subsidiary of Intel and is not controlled by Intel.

Of course, when you get right down to it, the main reason RDRAM is going to succeed in the PC marketplace is because Intel is pushing everyone into it.

FC-PGA Coming Your Way

Another trend Intel is pushing for is the move away from Slot 1 to FC-PGA Socket 370. The reduced packaging costs of Socket 370 save Intel several dollars on every CPU, which turns into a lot of money when Intel is shipping millions of CPUs. Also, the lower profile of Socket 370 allows more compact, more versatile system design.

Intel has been pushing this move since last year, but it looks like they have finally started to gain momentum. 1GHz may be the fastest speed you will see for Slot 1, and Pentium IIIs won't be running much faster.