On die Memory controller

[matman326]

I've got my own theories on why they haven't switched to an on die memory controller but i just wanted to hear some feedback of what you guys think.

 

[Genx87]

My guess is they never thought far out enough to do it.
Also if they did, it would probably hurt their chipset business.

 

[matman326]

Well my thinking is this:

#1 A huge pride factor, they already made the move to "copy" AMD once I doubt they could bare to do it again. Admiting AMD did something right once in a year is big enough for Intel.

#2 Then the EE P4 would be obsolete. Benchmarks have shown the AMD cpus don't care how much cache they have cuz the latency to system memory is so low(compared to the Northbridge handling the memory)

 

[Alkaline5]

As both of you mentioned, Intel makes a lot of money by differentiating their chipsets slightly (ie: 925/915 and 875/865) and also by cutting/adding cache to differentiate CPU lines.

An onboard memory controller would eliminate the large performance differences that currently result from that strategy. No one would buy a 925/P4EE combo for over $1000 if a cheap $250 915/Celeron (w/integrated controller) combo performed nearly as well.

 

[mamisano]

One BIG reason is the BTX form factor. The specs mandate where the memory has to be, and that makes it too far away from the CPU for an on-die controller. That is one reason why AMD won't/can't go to BTX.

Intel painted themselves into a corner on that one...

 

[carlosd]

Intel just want to sell, they don't care about the quality of the products they offer to the cosumers. Besides, changing to a integrated memory controller would mean for them to copy AMD once again, and change all the marketing around their new useless plataform.

 

[nowayout99]

Originally posted by: carlosd
Intel just want to sell, they don't care about the quality of the products they offer to the cosumers.

Err, right. Because that's always been a winning strategy. Seriously, I'm not a big fan of Intel, but people should "listen" to what they say sometimes.