Has the DRAM sector become a different animal? The Rambus and anti-trust litigation over who owns what patents will likely linger in U.S. courts for years to come. Mainstream DRAM applications are now hardly just about the PC sector and now include digital cameras, phones and other devices.

But according to leading DRAM vendors we contacted, including representatives from Infineon, Micron and Samsung, not much has changed. DRAM's near- to mid-term development still remains firmly tied to Intel and AMD's PC chipset roadmaps and Jedec development efforts.

"Jedec is mainly driven by the two enablers: Intel and AMD's roadmaps for chipsets. They say their development for the FSB in two year is this, and you need memory at the right speed to accommodate the FSB in two years," Rainer Weidlich, director, technical marketing memory products at Infineon Technologies, said. "The guys who have the roadmap for the development of chipsets in their hands are more or less directing the DRAM guys. The DRAM guys are locked into the chipset development roadmap and they must be ready at the launch date of the new chipsets and platforms."

The kind of DRAM that will be available during the next few years will also follow Jedec's traditional development cycle and efforts.

"You can love or you can hate Jedec, but it is the only platform where all of the DRAM developers, future users and the main enablers, AMD and Intel, sit together," Weidlich said. "You must have the consensus [that Jedec provides]."