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LAS VEGAS--Opening the doors to cheaper and faster PCs based on Intel's Pentium 4 processor, the long-awaited version of Intel's 845 chip set that supports Double Data Rate Synchronous Dynamic RAM (DDR SDRAM), the 845-D, has made a debut at Comdex.

Legend QDI, which is a subsidiary of Legend Holdings, China's largest PC manufacturer, is demonstrating its QDI P2D-A motherboard, which is based on the 845-D. The standard ATX motherboard, which can support Pentium 4 chips running at speeds of 2GHz and above, is being shown in a demonstration running a 1.6GHz Pentium 4 processor with 128MB of DDR SDRAM.

The QDI P2D-A is scheduled to begin shipping worldwide in December, which is one month earlier than Intel's previously announced plans to release the chip during the first quarter of 2002. It is expected to be priced around $140, said Wang Huabing, senior manager for system research and development at Legend's commercial desktop PC business division.

December Debut

Other vendors also confirmed plans to begin shipping 845-D-based motherboards in December.

Taiwan-based Soyo Computer will begin shipping its 845-D-based SY-P4I Fire Dragon motherboard--which was on display at Comdex--in December, said Wendy Liu, an account manager at Soyo. Pricing for the SY-P4I wasn't available yet, she said. Taiwanese motherboard maker Abit Computer also said it plans to begin shipping its 845-D-based boards in December.

Intel has not officially announced the release of the 845-D and company officials at Comdex would not discuss plans for its release.

"Intel's original plan was January 2002 but they have moved it up to December," said Bernard Lam, sales and marketing manager for Abit Computer. "They [Intel] really see the market is moving to DDR so they brought up the schedule."

An Intel spokesperson was caught off guard by the appearance of 845-D based motherboards at Comdex. Lori Brown declined to comment on the new chip set, citing the company's policy to not discuss unannounced products.

Fourth Source

Chip sets provide the interface that connects a PC's processor with its main memory. Intel currently offers two chip sets for the Pentium 4, the 850 and the 845. The 850 supports Rambus DRAM (RDRAM) and the existing version of the 845 supports SDRAM, which is cheaper than RDRAM but is also considered slower.

The release of the 845-D will enable PC manufacturers to sell Pentium 4-based computers that use DDR SDRAM, which is faster than SDRAM. DDR SDRAM is comparable in performance to RDRAM but costs less. Intel has been slow to adopt the DDR standard, but AMD's Athlon and supporting chip sets have supported the memory standard for some time.

The 845-D is the fourth DDR SDRAM chip set for the Pentium 4 to become available. Taiwan-based chip set makers Via Technologies, Silicon Integrated Systems, and Acer Laboratories have also announced products that provide DDR support for the Pentium 4. Via markets the P4X266, and Silicon Integrated Systems markets the SiS645. Acer unveiled the Aladdin P4 in August.

DDR SDRAM support for the Pentium 4 has also been the source of friction between Via and Intel. In September, Intel filed lawsuits in the United States and elsewhere alleging that Via's P4X266 chip set violates several of Intel's microprocessor-related patents. Via has repeatedly denied those allegations, and the case remains in court.

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