Via Technologies is set to go mainstream. On Thursday, Via launched the low-power Nano processor line that will compete with Intel's Atom processor and likely give the chip supplier some mainstream PC street cred.
Via Nano processor
(Credit: Via Technologies)Formerly referred to by the code name Isaiah, Nano is based on the x86 architecture, meaning it can run the same software as chips from Intel and Advanced Micro Devices.
With Nano, Via is angling for more mainstream notebook and mini-notebook designs such as Hewlett-Packard's 2133 Mini-Note PC, which uses Via's current C7 processor. Low-cost desktops will also be a target market, as will designs with Nvidia's graphics processors.
Nano offers two to four times the performance of Via's current C7 but maintains the same power consumption and can be used in the same circuit board designs as the C7.
"We are plug-compatible with our existing C7," said Glenn Henry, president of Centaur Technology, the Via subsidiary that designed Nano. This means that the chip can be plugged into the same processor socket as the current Via C7 chip.
Nano will have a thermal envelope as low as 5 watts at 1.0GHz. This is higher, however, than Intel's Atom chip which tops out at just 2.5 watts. At the high end, Nano will have a thermal envelope--referred to as the TDP or Thermal Design Power--of 25 watts. (See chart)
One of the principal differences between Nano and Atom is that Intel's chip uses a more simple "in-order execution" design compared to Nano's superscalar, out-of-order design. Because of this more sophisticated design, Nano may deliver better performance than Atom in some cases, claimed Henry.
But Nano may compete with Intel's higher-performance Celeron lines too since Nano is also targeted at low-cost notebooks and desktops.
It is not clear how price competitive Nano will be since Via is not disclosing pricing. The Atom processor ranges in price from $45 (800MHz) to $160 (1.86GHz). While Intel's Celeron M (mobile) processor is listed at $86 and the lower-power version of the Celeron M is listed at $161. Intel's ultra-low-power Core Solo processor starts at $241.
"One is going to be cheaper than they are at equal power. One is going to be faster," Henry said. "That's the C7 and the Nano (respectively). Got 'em surrounded," he added, referring to Intel.
Via Nano processor lineup
(Credit: Via Technologies)Nano is due to ship in volume in the third quarter.
Initially, the processor is expected to find its way into computers that use circuit boards based on the Mini-ITX design, said Richard Brown, vice president, corporate marketing at Via. The processor will not appear in mainstream notebooks immediately since the lead time for these designs is longer, said Brown.
"Notebooks take a longer time to bring to market even once you got the design win," he said.
The Via C7 processor is currently being used in mainstream notebook designs such as the $398 Everex gBook in addition to the HP 2133 Mini-Note PC.
Via is also planning a dual-core processor but is no hurry to bring it out. "We'll do it when Intel makes us do it," Henry said. "I don't think the devices we're talking about need dual core."
The Nano processor family uses Fujitsu's advanced 65 nanometer manufacturing process and comes in a compact 21mm x 21mm package.
Via Nano architecture highlights:
• 64-bit Superscalar Speculative Out-Of-Order MicroArchitecture
• High-speed, low-power Via V4 Front Side Bus starts at 800MHz
• High-performance floating point unit
• Two 64KB L1 caches and 1MB exclusive L2 cache
Is the end of the Intel-AMD duopoly nigh? Via Technologies is hoping this may be the case when it announces the "Isaiah" processor later this month.
Via Isaiah processor is targeted at mainstream notebooks and desktops; top: Isaiah processor; bottom: $398 15-inch Everex gBook
(Credit: Via, Wal-Mart)The company's first high-performance x86 chip will be targeted at the mainstream PC market--another first for the Taipei-based chip supplier. Via processors have historically appeared in ultrasmall mobile devices (such as the OQO), embedded computers, or thin-client computers.
"It puts us into the mainstream market for the first time," said Richard Brown, vice president, corporate marketing at Via.
Isaiah, like Via processors before it, will still hew to the lower-power line, however.
Correction: Isaiah's TDP (Thermal Design Power or power envelope) is not confirmed at this point. However, Glenn Henry, president of Centaur Technology (the Via subsidiary that designed Isaiah), said in a previous interview that Isaiah will consume more power than Intel's Atom processor but "has the same power curve" as Via's existing C7 chip.
One of the main differences between Isaiah and Atom is that Intel's chip uses a more simple "in-order execution" design compared to Isaiah's Superscalar, out-of-order design.
Because of this more sophisticated design, Isaiah may deliver higher performance than Atom, though independent benchmarking will be the final judge. But more to the point, Isaiah may be competing more with Intel's low-end Core 2 or Celeron lines than with Atom in some cases (since Isaiah will be initially targeted at mainstream notebooks and desktops).
Via subsidiary Centaur Technology designed the processor. "Centaur has been working on this for the last three years. It's between two and four times the performance of C7 (Via's current processor). So, it' very, very close to (Intel's) Core 2. Core 2 solo (single core)," Brown said.
The Via C7 processor is currently being used in a design that may herald more Isaiah-based mainstream notebooks. The $398 Everex gBook is being sold at Wal-Mart with a 15-inch screen, a 1.5GHz Via C-7M processor, 512MB of DDR2 system memory, a 60 GB hard disk drive, optical drive, Ethernet, and wireless. It uses the gOS Version 2 operating system, a Linux distribution.
"We're in full agreement with the optimized PC concept," Brown said. An idea put forward by Nvidia's CEO Jen-Hsun Huang, it postulates that a consumer will get better PC price-performance by adding a $50 graphics card rather than a two or three hundred dollar quad-core processor. "You can have a processor like Isaiah matched with a better graphics card," Brown said. "There's opportunity in both desktops and notebooks."
Last month, Via and Nvidia announced a platform billed as the "The World's Most Affordable Vista Premium PC," the sub-$45 processing platform will combine Via's Isaiah processor with an integrated Nvidia graphics chipset.
Via Technologies is shipping samples of the new Isaiah processor targeted at low-cost compact computers.
Via Isaiah Architecture die plot
(Credit: Via Technologies)Via's current C7 processor is already used by Everex in its CloudBook, by OQO in the Model 02, and by Hewlett-Packard in thin-client computers and in certain models that the computer maker sells in China. Both the C7 and Isaiah are x86-compatible processors, meaning they can run the same software that Intel amd AMD chips do.
Samples of the Isaiah-architecture-based x86 chips are now being shipped "aggressively" to customers with a release timeframe of May-June, said Glenn Henry, CEO of Centaur Technology, the Via subsidiary that designed the chip. The first generation of Isaiah-based products will be pin-compatible with the C7 processor family and offer two to four times the performance, according to Henry. Fujitsu is manufacturing the chip.
Isaiah is targeted specifically at the low-cost "thin-and-light notebook area," Henry said. The same market segment that Intel is targeting for the upcoming Atom "Silverthorne" processor. (Intel prefers to call this segment "netbooks.")
Correction: Isaiah's TDP (Thermal Design Power or power envelope) is not confirmed at this point. However Henry said that Isaiah will consumer more power than Intel's Atom processor.
Other differences include: Atom uses a more simple "in-order execution" design compared to Isaiah's Superscalar, out-of-order design. Because of this more sophisticated design, Isaiah may deliver higher performance than Atom, though independent benchmarking will be the final judge.
Via will need all the technological advantage it can muster just to avoid getting buried by Intel's marketing juggernaut. Intel is "formidable but won't take it all. We've already got design wins. The cost to a manufacturer to change their whole design is quite high unless there's some real benefit to it," Henry said.
Henry also noted that Intel is following Via into the low-cost, small-device market--where Via has been a player for many years--not the other way around.
Via is also planning a dual-core version of Isaiah but Henry would not provide any more details.
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