Intel readying DDR-enabled chipset?

According to IC insider, Jack Robertson, Intel Corp. may be on the verge of breaking its contract with the litigious Rambus Inc., by manufacturing a desktop double-data-rate-enabled chipset. Memory companies are reportedly supplying Intel with the quantity of unbuffered Dual In-line Memory Modules necessary for developing its desktop DDR Almador chipset. A DDR chipset for servers, on the other hand, would require buffered DIMMs. The word from suppliers is that Intel is preparing desktop-DDR capability to support an upgraded Pentium 3 or the future Northwood Pentium 4, violating Intel's contract with Rambus that bars the company from selling its own desktop-DDR chipset before 2003. Analysts have expressed bewilderment as to how Intel could market a DDR chipset for desktops next year without incurring serious legal consequences.

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