Now we know that Intel will either make sure that owners of i820 MTH-motherboards will get a replacement i820 motherboard and RDRAM or will reimburse the customer accordingly, which actually should not mean that the customer will only get the money for his board back, but also enough money to afford RDRAM if he likes to buy it. Otherwise he would get the by far worse deal. However, the question should be asked why Intel does not endorse people to move over to an alternative SDRAM-platform. Of course right now there are only platforms with VIA's Apollo Pro133A chipset that fall into this category, but Intel is planning to release its own PC133 SDRAM chipset 'Solano' or 'i815' within about three weeks. Why doesn't Intel endorse MTH-owners to wait for this platform, so they only require the board and PC133 SDRAM, which would be much cheaper than i820 plus RDRAM? Could it have something to do with Intel's 'close relationship' to Rambus?

The Best Alternative For An MTH-Motherboard

Latest since my article 'Showdown at 133 MHz FSB - Part 2, The Real McCoy ' we all know that i820 is a chipset that should be avoided altogether. It is certainly correct, i820 with MTH and SDRAM was/is a rather bad performer and we said so all along. However, even i820 with RDRAM, the official MTH replacement platform, doesn't perform particularly well either and this at a ridiculous cost. I already mentioned in my last article that an MTH motherboard owner who gets i820 plus PC600 RDRAM as a replacement is doomed with a platform that performs even worse than his original product. However, even if you should receive i820 plus PC700 or PC800 RDRAM you still haven't got the best solution you could get. VIA's Apollo Pro133A platform plus PC133 SDRAM may be cheaper than i820 plus RDRAM, but at the same time it's better in many regards. The 'Solano' or 'i815' chipset is expected to perform at least as good as an overclocked 'BX133' chipset. For most, if not all, MTH motherboard owners 'Solano' would offer the by far best alternative in any regard. However, this i815-product is something that Intel only developed out of an emergency situation. We haven't tested Solano-platforms yet, but it is most likely that Solano with PC133 SDRAM will outperform i820 plus RDRAM. Thus Solano will be the proof that RDRAM is obsolete, at least in this segment. To make sure that people won't leave i820 alone and buy i815 instead, Intel will offer Solano in very low quantities and none in the retail sector. Equipping all MTH motherboard owners with this chipset would mean a setback for Intel. That's why the MTH motherboard owners will rather get i820 plus RDRAM than the most likely better i815 plus PC133 SDRAM, even if it should cost Intel more money.