Intel’s 850E core-logic is indisputable performance leader among all Pentium 4 supporting chipsets. Its main disadvantage is the support of dual-channel RDRAM memory that is about 1.5 times more expensive compared to DDR SDRAM. Due to this fact, the i850E based mainboards in particular and RDRAM in general are not very popular both among the end-users and personal computer vendors. Nevertheless, those, who want to achieve the highest performance possible with their Pentium 4 processors still have to choose RDRAM in order to get it. However, it seems that the up and coming Granite Bay chipset, supporting dual-channel PC2100 memory will soon dethrone the i850E.

Intel`s Granite Bay is also known as the E7205. It supports 400 and 533MHz system bus, AGP 8x and dual-channel PC1600/2100 DDR SDRAM memory. Intel decided not to implement PC2700 (DDR333) support this time, as the peak bandwidth offered by dual-channel PC2100 is 4.2GB per second, exactly equals to 533MHz Quad-pumped Pentium 4 bus. The North Bridge (or MCH) features the ICH4 I/O controller, supporting USB 2.0 and other necessary features. It was reported that several mainboard manufacturers will release E7205 based products in October, targeting workstations and entry-level servers. It seems that E7205 will be a perfect companion to Intel`s up and coming Pentium 4 3.06GHz with the HyperThreading technology enabled.

The Inquirer today said that Intel has already started the mass production of the newcomer and the actual mainboards are due to appear in November. There will be no delays since a lot of big and important mainboard vendors showcased their products based on the E7205 in early September at IDF in San Jose. Moreover, even second-tier companies, such as Chaintech, will also introduce their products.

Apart from E7205 intended for entry-level servers and workstations, the biggest semiconductor maker will also launch its E7505 and E7501, both targeted on the server’s market (see this news-story for details and specifications).

The price of the Granite Bay is $50, $10 more than the i850E costs, hence, the mainboards powered by the former will be priced up to $20 more compared to those on the i850E. However, one should consider the memory price as well. Since PC2100 DDR SDRAM costs considerably less than PC1066 or PC800 RDRAM, a personal computer utilising the E7205 will be cheaper than that making use of the i850E. Moreover, due to improved architecture and specifications, Granite Bay but offer the same or better performance.

I am not a prophet, but a I can easily guess, who of these two core-logic devices will be more popular and perspective for the end-users.