Intel’s latest specification changes in its Springdale chipset are expected to affect not only Taiwanese chipset designers’ product planning but also the new K8-core platform from Advanced Micro Devices (AMD).
Instead of the original 677MHz FSB (front-side bus) speed and dual-channel DDR333 memory architecture, Intel on November 15 informed its motherboard clients that its upcoming Springdale chipsets will support an 800MHz FSB and dual-channel DDR400.
Taiwanese chipset designers Silicon Integrated Systems (SiS) and VIA Technologies may both feel the impact, industry sources said. SiS, though having Pentium 4 technology licensing from Intel, will need to adjust its product designs and change the FSB standard of its new-generation chipsets, including the SiS648FX and SiS655, from 677MHz to 800MHz.
Meanwhile, due to the abruptness of Intel’s roadmap change, sources said that SiS may not be able to completely catch up with Intel’s schedule and may thus see its shipment target affected in the first quarter of 2003, considering the company’s output capability and production yield rate.
Pressure on VIA will come from its higher shipment dependence on AMD-platform products, as it has not obtained P4 technology licensing. If AMD loses market share, VIA’s overall shipment performance will be affected.
That situation may arise if AMD is unable to fully supply the new K8 processors when Intel formally introduces its Springdale platform, board makers said. Like the recently-updated Springdale products, AMD’s K8 processors support 800MHz FSBs as well. If AMD fails to offer enough processors on the market, Intel is likely to further expand its market share with the new Springdale products.
AMD plans to release about 100,000 K8 processors in the first quarter of 2003, rising to 300,000 units in the second quarter and five million units in the third.
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