There we are. The first look at Intel's initial version of 'Brookdale' the 'value' Pentium 4 chipset i845. The question now is, who will be interested in it? It is true that it will make Pentium 4 much more affordable due to its PC133 SDRAM support, but its lackluster memory performance impacts Pentium 4 so badly, that it makes AMD's Athlon an even more attractive solution than it already is. I also don't expect board prices to be that low, since Intel has a long high-price history for its chipsets, even when they are carrying the 'value'-tag.

I personally would consider everyone as close to crazy if he should choose Pentium 4 plus i845 and PC133 SDRAM. Intel will try to use the blue men and the rest of its marketing machine to capitalize on the Pentium 4 nametag for i845-systems. However, this sad performing solution is just another sign that Intel is running out of ideas. I have to say that I am more than tired of half-baked solutions that are sold as new products.

Why does nobody at Intel have the guts to come out with the obviously functional i845 for DDR? Pentium 4 sales are far from great right now and I don't see how i845 with PC133 is supposed to change that. Intel will continue making a fool out of itself if it continues to hold on to the sinking Rambus ship instead of showing some guts and release i845 with DDR-SDRAM. Dear Pam Pollace, please spare us with even more 'Blue Men' commercials that try to sell i845 to the poor uninformed masses, and tell your bosses that they should try coming up with reasonable products instead.

The i845 is not a bad chipset. Once it is teamed up with DDR-SDRAM it will most likely be what most Taiwanese motherboard makers call it: the new 'BX'. However, as long as Intel keeps the DDR-version from us, I wouldn't even touch an i845 motherboard.