I hope that it will be the last time I write about the new RDRAM chipset from SiS today. I had to return to this topic again because of the info about the chipset pricing I have recently got. According to our Taiwanese sources, SiS is going to sell its baby for $39.

I think that this pretty high price is SiS’ marketing mistake, which will hardly let the company sell any significant amounts of the new SiSR658. I sincerely doubt that there are any companies which will prefer the new SiSR658 to the good old i850E, which is only $1 more expensive. Of course, SiSR658 features a few advantages over the competitor, such as the official PC1066 RDRAM support, 4-bank memory modules support, and the ability to work in single-channel mode, however, the reputation of i850E among the manufacturers is much more favorable than that of SiS’ first experience in the Rambus market.

There is only one explanation we can think of for this move of SiS’: they are not going to sell their SiSR658 at all. This is pretty likely to turn out just a pure PR thing aimed at attracting attention to SiS and its other successful products. In this case, SiSR658 will definitely cope with its task.