Intel Corp (INTC)

[wbmw]

Elmer, Re: chipset "binning"

It's an interesting theory, but I don't think it's right. I remember seeing an explanation somewhere on how the i875 chipset gains the performance boost of PAT. Essentially, they are able to skip a number of stages in the memory controller using new design optimizations. It cuts down on latency, which improves performance. The reason why this was not built into the i865 chipset could be several reasons. 1) It's a new technology and Intel did not want to risk it on a high volume chipset. 2) Intel wants to charge a premium for the technology, so they want some differentiation against the i865 besides the ECC support in memory.