SAN JOSE --Intel Corp. plans to introduce DDR DRAM support for the Pentium 4 during the first quarter of 2001, but not the fastest PC266 speed, Intel executives said Tuesday.
In an interview at the Intel Developer Forum, Peter MacWilliams, an Intel fellow and director of platform architecture, confirmed previous statements that Brookdale, the company's Pentium 4 chipset, will be released in the second half of 2001.
But support for the fastest double-data rate (DDR) memory will have to wait.
"We don't believe PC266 [DDR] works on paper," MacWilliams said, adding that the company will only support PC200 DDR DRAM when Brookdale's DDR interface rolls out next year.
Brookdale is an important product for Intel, because it will tie the Pentium 4 to cheaper SDRAM.
Currently, the Pentium 4's Intel 850 chipset uses memory designed by Direct Rambus, a higher-priced, but higher-performance alternative.
While this may be desirable for higher-end machines, moving the Pentium 4 into the mainstream PC will likely require cheaper memory.
However, Brookdale will be designed with single-rate SDRAM in mind. Intel had promised to add DDR support as well, which doubles the performance of SDRAM by sending twice as much information per clock cycle.
According to Samsung Electronics, a leading DRAM firm and a chief proponent of Direct Rambus DRAM, 128 Mbits of Direct Rambus memory costs about $18, while DDR costs about $8.
