New Opportunity For Rambus: SiS 658 And 659

There was a great deal of talking going on at the last Intel Developer Forum 2003 in the spring. The company Rambus, in particular, let on behind closed doors that it was on the verge of releasing an absolute hit of a chipset. The talk was about the SiS 659, a cooperation with SiS, which is meant to put the DDR-oriented competition well and truly in its place. This reaction can be understood all the more in that Rambus has finally broken away from its ex bosom buddy "Intel", who, as a partner, finally admitted defeat after a long and tough struggle with the mass market. It just goes to show that the better is not always the enemy of the good. Neither was the behavior shown by Rambus towards these memory manufacturers always exactly gentlemanly, with the company cashing in wherever it was possible. In 2002, Rambus achieved over 90 percent of its revenues from license fees. However, the company is still embroiled in countless lawsuits.

Variable memory support: PC1200 (600 MHz) and even PC1333 (667 MHz).

Declaration of war on the DDR fraction. The SiS-658 chipset supports Rambus memory with up to 533 MHz (PC1066). The Northbridge is completely new.