Thursday, January 15th 2009
Intel and AMD Postpone 100% DDR3 Transition
Leading CPU makers Intel and AMD have adopted memory standards in fairly quick succession in the past. This however, doesn't seem to be the case with DDR3. AMD is yet to release a CPU that supports DDR3 memory, and is two years behind Intel with its DDR3 implementation plans. Intel on the other hand has managed 100% DDR3 dependency with only its premium Core i7 platform, with DDR3 not completely replacing DDR2 in any of its mainstream or value lineups.
Market factors, namely the DRAM manufacturing industry, are increasingly posing difficulties to CPU makers to bring DDR3 memory at a consumer-friendly price point. With manufacturing costs refusing to come down and the Core i7 not able generate the expected demand that justifies selling triple channel kits at sub-$100 price-points, CPU makers are rethinking their large-scale DDR3 standard transition plans for their entire lineups. Intel on its part is contemplating on postponing its 5-series mainstream platform for the Intel Core i5 series processors. AMD on the other hand, is still struggling with technical difficulties in achieving stability and compatibility with DDR3 memory on its DDR3-supportive memory controllers the upcoming AM3-socket CPUs come with. So the company is also unlikely to transition to DDR3 until it is able to come out with a workable BIOS, sources add. It could be as long as 2010 by when a 100% industry-wide implementation of DDR3 can take place.
Source:
DigiTimes
Market factors, namely the DRAM manufacturing industry, are increasingly posing difficulties to CPU makers to bring DDR3 memory at a consumer-friendly price point. With manufacturing costs refusing to come down and the Core i7 not able generate the expected demand that justifies selling triple channel kits at sub-$100 price-points, CPU makers are rethinking their large-scale DDR3 standard transition plans for their entire lineups. Intel on its part is contemplating on postponing its 5-series mainstream platform for the Intel Core i5 series processors. AMD on the other hand, is still struggling with technical difficulties in achieving stability and compatibility with DDR3 memory on its DDR3-supportive memory controllers the upcoming AM3-socket CPUs come with. So the company is also unlikely to transition to DDR3 until it is able to come out with a workable BIOS, sources add. It could be as long as 2010 by when a 100% industry-wide implementation of DDR3 can take place.
29 Comments on Intel and AMD Postpone 100% DDR3 Transition
ps i saw bta's reply just now
All you got to do is look at the i7 adoption rates. They are terrible, even after several months in the wild. AMD's PII is not doing any better. In fact the current AM2 iteration is dropping in price like Enron stock circa 2001, yet very few takers in or outside of enthusiast community. $100 for PII in month or two? I wouldn't be surprised.
DDR3 is getting cheaper and cheaper yet people are still reluctant to go DDR3 route (along with everything that goes with it, new chipsets or CPU's). Yesterday I saw a decent Corsair DDR3 4GB kit for $70 on Buy.com. Cheaper than many DDR2 kits. Money is tight and people are not spending as much.
So why doesn't AMD do a similar thing and just hop right onto the DDR4 board when it's out 3 years from now? Nah, that'll be too much of a long wait, I still think they've made the right decisions up to now though. Best wishes for the green company.