Despite having little difference in specifications from the old 845A3, the competitiveness of Intel’s updated SDRAM-based chipset 845S has begun to be recognized, as the product is quoted at US$30-32 and the spot price of SDRAM memory has started declining lately.
Previously, motherboard manufacturers were rather conservative about sales of the updated chipsets, seeing that the DDR platform is bound to become the mainstream standard soon. Although board makers still believe that the DDR products will claim their mainstream status, likely to be as late as May or June now, they are beginning to think that the updated 845S may be quite competitive in the current market. According to sources, the chipset is quoted US$5 cheaper than the 845B0, and the price of SDRAM has been able to maintain a 10% differential from DDR’s.
Given its price, Intel’s 845S will be a new threat to VIA Technologies and Silicon Integrated Systems (SiS), whose P4 chipsets have targeted the medium and low-end market segments, motherboard manufacturers noted.
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