History of Rambus......

[Czar]

Please copy paste this and publish your own with the parts that are missing.

Rambus signs a deal with with Intel, Intel to use RDRAM in future systems
DDRAM shows its better than RDRAM
Rambus sues Micron, Hitachi and others.
Few companies agree with Rambus and agree to pay royalities
Micron sues Rambus, other companies join in the suit.
Rambus sues AMD and Transmeta.


So what is missing?

 

[Finality]

The part where Rambus starts smoking crack.

 

[GFORCE100]

I feel all you who are so down on Rambus have yet to educate yourselves on the technology behind it. DDR SDRAM is not faster in the long run than Rambus, if you think it is then I suggest you read up on it. Rambus is for the future once DDR SDRAM becomes the bottleneck, Intel isn't stupid supporting it, trust me. If Rambus had the same data path width as SDRAM has then it would deliver 6.4GB/sec at the same bus speed. DDR SDRAM is 2.1GB/sec. Things will become a lot cheaper once it is more standerized in the industry.

 

[NFS4]

<< I feel all you who are so down on Rambus have yet to educate yourselves on the technology behind it. DDR SDRAM is not faster in the long run tha Rambus, if you think it is then I suggest you read up on it. Rambus is for the future once DDR SDRAM becomes the bottleneck, Intel isn't stupid supporting it, trust me. If Rambus had the same data path width as SDRAM has then it would deliver 6.4GB/sec at the same bus speed. DDR SDRAM is 2.1GB/sec. Things will become a lot cheaper once it is more standerized in the industry. >>


What does that have to do with Rambus suing everybody? That is the issue at hand...

 

[GFORCE100]

I agree, Rambus should not be sueing others. I just looked at the situation from a differnet view NFS4. I knew that if I said something to do with the thread but not directly linked I might get some responses and share some thoughts. No need to be rude.

Adam

 

[Rectalfier]

Plus, Intel is stupid, they are forced to use rambus up untill 2003 or something, around the time rambus may be usefull.

Rambus is suck

 

[NFS4]

I'm sorry...the Rambus issue is getting all of us hot and bothered

 

[GFORCE100]

It's ok, Rambus is a topic that will carry on for quite some time. I bet you wouldn't call it crap if you could buy it for the same price you get your PC133 SDRAM modules. Whether we like it or not it's the future or memory, it will offer us in excess of 12GB/sec when used at midrange bus speeds with a 64bit data path.

 

[NFS4]

I'm not calling it crap, I'm calling Rambus's tactics crap

 

[Czar]

Right now RDRAM is 16bit, it sucks, and useless at the moment. If they can manage to use 32bit then it might be usefull.

Rambus usess 16bit because it needs fewer data paths, as in whatnots on the PCB, increasing it to 32bit will increase the cost alot and the complexity. It might be possible after 2-3 years, but by that time we will have 400mhz DDRAM or even QDR. Rambus came to soon and to wrong.

 

[GFORCE100]

NFS4 - I'm not saying that about you, it's in response to what rectifier I believe said.
Czar - A lot of truth in what you say there. I doubt DRAM technology could go that far, lets not forget latency is getting worse as we speak.

 

[Sohcan]

<< I feel all you who are so down on Rambus have yet to educate yourselves on the technology behind it >>

I'm a CS major, and I've taken multiple computer engineering, computer architecture and memory design classes. I'm down on Rambus. You should see my ECE354 professor go off on Rambus. What are your &quot;qualifications?&quot;



<< . DDR SDRAM is not faster in the long run than Rambus, if you think it is then I suggest you read up on it >>

I suggest you read this article. Notice how i815 + PC133 SDRAM is 8% faster than i820 + RDRAM, despite having 38% less memory bandwidth? Notice how the Athlon system with DDR SDRAM is 14% faster than the PC133 system? Even if future Rambus technologies will be faster than DDR SDRAM &quot;in the long run,&quot; DDR SDRAM is the best memory solution right now (followed by PC133 SDRAM), and will remain so for a long time.



<< Rambus is for the future once DDR SDRAM becomes the bottleneck >>

Do you really think DDR SDRAM technology will remain stagnant? PC2600 DDR SDRAM (2.6 GB/sec) is due out next year, and QDR SDRAM is in the works. By the time Rambus moves to a 64-bit data path (if ever), QDR SDRAM will be offering 10+ GB/sec of bandwidth as well.



<< Intel isn't stupid supporting it, trust me >>

No, I won't trust you. You are wrong again. Intel is working on a DDR SDRAM chipset for the P4, known as Brookdale. Intel has given its DDR SDRAM technology to Via, so that they can strengthen the platform for Tualitin and P4 until Intel gets its DDR SDRAM chipset out. Intel also formed a commission with all the major DRAM manufacturers to work on next-generation DRAM. Intel specifically excluded Rambus. The commission will also be bringing up an anti-trust lawsuit against Rambus.



<< If Rambus had the same data path width as SDRAM has then it would deliver 6.4GB/sec at the same bus speed. DDR SDRAM is 2.1GB/sec >>

WTF? If I had a 4 GHz Athlon, it would be a hell of a lot faster than a 1 GHz P3. If DDR SDRAM had a 256-bit data path, it would be a hell of a lot faster than RDRAM. But it's not going to happen. Don't play the &quot;what if&quot; game.



<< Things will become a lot cheaper once it is more standerized in the industry. >>

Rambus has been &quot;standardized&quot; for a long time...RDRAM was first used back in 1994 in some video cards before EDO and SDRAM prices plummeted. Rambus advocates have been saying this for 18 months, but RDRAM is still expensive. The fact is that RDRAM yields are less than half of those of SDRAM.

 

[NFS4]

<< Do you really think DDR SDRAM technology will remain stagnant? PC2600 DDR SDRAM (2.6 GB/sec) is due out next year, and QDR SDRAM is in the works. >>


True dat, they are working on DDR-II for Q4 '01 which will operate at 300-400MHz.

 

[Czar]

Right now DDRAM is made in 0.18micron at 200mhz and 266mhz, when they get to 0.13micron we will see 333mhz and 400mhz. QDR is the same only twice as fast.

For lets say a default clocked 200mhz QDR, meaning 800mhz 64bit memmory, meaning bandwith of IdontknowwhatbecauseIforgothowtocalculateIt. Anyhow, the speed of a 16bit RDRAM has to have to equal the bandwith of a 200mhz QDR is so great that its allmost impossible.

 

[Sohcan]

<< I bet you wouldn't call it crap if you could buy it for the same price you get your PC133 SDRAM modules >>

No, I would still call PC800 RDRAM crap. Read this article. If PC800 RDRAM is significantly slower than PC133 SDRAM on i815/i820, why would I buy it?

RDRAM is dead in the water. Serial RAM technology could offer many benefits if implemented properly, but Rambus has not done so. By the time DDR/QDR SDRAM has run its course, the fundamental technology behind DRAM will be at its end. Expect completely new RAM technologies, beyond the age-old SRAM and DRAM, to be appearing in the next 3-5 years. Magnetic RAM, or MRAM, is in the works, using magnetic states to hold binary information. It will go beyond the limitations that are being reached in transistor technologies and modern lithography.

 

[GFORCE100]

Sohcan,

You've raised some true facts albeit in a rude way but nevertherless true. Rambus was used in the Laguna chipset boards fro Cirrus Logic, you're right by making that statement.
I don't think you should however invest all your efforts and money into DRAM shares. It's good to have competition, it develops ambitions to produce better technologies as well as bring down the prices of those already available.

 

[Czar]

Lets just put it like this...

Rambus is the Apple of the PC industry.

 

[Sohcan]

Rude? I was being downright cordial for this BBS.



<< It's good to have competition, it develops ambitions to produce better technologies as well as bring down the prices of those already available. >>

I completely agree with you. Competition is the one thing that keeps the computer industry alive. But Rambus (the company) is acting to squash the competition. They intend to secure the patents for SDRAM and DDR SDRAM, when in actuality these technologies were developed in open JEDEC sessions, which Rambus attended. By its charter, any technology standard discussed at JEDEC cannot be patented. If Rambus succeeds in securing the patent and forcing licensing on all DRAM and core logic manufacturers, it will force licensing fees on DDR SDRAM (the only competing next-gen DRAM technology) so that DRDRAM will cost less, making DDR SDRAM too expensive to implement. If Rambus has its way, they will secure a complete monopoly on the entire DRAM industry, making it impossible for any other type of DRAM technology to be developed.

 

[GFORCE100]

Sohcan,

Just out of interest, what system are you running using what type of RAM?

 

[GFORCE100]

Rambus is going the wrong way about things and not attracting loyalty but instead making people hate the company. As far as hardware company goes, there is no need for a monoply like in the software sector where overall Microsoft does a good job delivering quality software titles.

 

[Noriaki]

<< No, I would still call PC800 RDRAM crap. Read this article. If PC800 RDRAM is significantly slower than PC133 SDRAM on i815/i820, why would I buy it? >>



I would just like to point out that a Pentium3 has a 64bit 100 or 133Mhz bus, which is exactly what PC100 or PC133 SDRAM has as well.
Any bandwidth advantages Rambus could give will get choked off by the front side bus speed, and then with the logic needed to convert from 16bit 800Mhz to 64bit 133Mhz you will lose more speed.

The i850 may show better results with Rambus because the P4's FSB is fast enough to not choke off the bandwidth...but I think that QDR SDRAM would be even better matched to it seeing as they could both be a 64bit 100Mhz x 4 Bus.

As far as I'm concerned, Rambus has very little place as a main system memory, all processors in the PC race have busses that are too wide and to slow. Serial memory may be a good idea, but we'd need Serial front side busses.

 

[Sohcan]

I have a Celeron2 @ 850 MHz with PC100 SDRAM.

BTW, I'm sorry if I exploded at you earlier. It's just this statement that got me angry: &quot;I feel all you who are so down on Rambus have yet to educate yourselves on the technology behind it.&quot; You are welcome to have whatever opinion you have, but I hate it when people assume that the opposing side is fundamentally uneducated about a subject (even though I was a little guilty of this too ).

 

[Czar]

The company I work for got an offer from HP to buy computers from them and HP recomended systems with RDRAM but I choose systems with SDRAM mostly because how Rambus acts, this is why Rambus will loose, people dont want them.

 

[GFORCE100]

Okay no harm done,
Let's shake hands and be friends again

 

[Finality]

We also will probably get QDR-II which is 8 times the bandwidth of SDRAM.

SDR
DDR -2X SDR
DDR-II - 2X DDR
QDR - the same as DDRI
QDR - II 2X QDR.

Not bad for a technology thats 5 years old now? It still has about 5 years of life left in it unless something drastic changes in the tech industry.