[CNET]End of Intel, AMD duopoly near? Via readies Isaiah chip - Overclock.net

Spart · 05-16-08

Quote:

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.

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. Isaiah (a code name) will consume no more than 3.5 watts, while Intel's Atom processor ranges from 0.6 to 2.5 watts. Atom, however, uses a more simple "in-order execution" design compared to Isaiah's Superscalar, out-of-order design capable of decoding three full x86 instructions per clock cycle of the processor.

Because of this design, Isaiah may deliver higher performance than Atom, though independent benchmarking will be the final judge.

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.

http://www.news.com/8301-10784_3-994...g=2547-1_3-0-5

Halo2Vista · 05-16-08

so are we talking about Intel/AMD, VIA, or both??

rabidgnome229 · 05-16-08

Via is entering a booming market - and one in which a smaller company can definitely compete. I will be keeping my eye on Via lappys

DjQurt · 05-16-08

is this dual core?

rabidgnome229 · 05-16-08

Quote:

Originally Posted by DjQurt

is this dual core?

Via recently announced a dual core, I'm not sure whether or not this is it

**edit**
from the pic I would say no

Spart · 05-16-08

Can;t really tell where the core is. The die is odd looking.

sublime0 · 05-16-08

so .... Im lost.

rabidgnome229 · 05-16-08

Quote:

Originally Posted by Spart

Can;t really tell where the core is. The die is odd looking.

It's just labeled in more detail than such pics usually are. Everything not labeled cache is core

froggy_newb · 05-16-08

if they do go mainstream, that means trouble for AMD, assuming that Via would go the cheap CPu route.

Spart · 05-16-08

Quote:

Originally Posted by rabidgnome229

It's just labeled in more detail than such pics usually are. Everything not labeled cache is core

Well for most DIE's you can tell which is which. Like this Phenom Die

You can tell where the 4 cores are.

Same with this Nehalem Die

The VIA die looks like they put random crap everywhere. On the AMD and Intel Die's everything is all organized.

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[CNET]End of Intel, AMD duopoly near? Via readies Isaiah chip

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sublime0 nVidia Enthusiast Join Date: Jun 2006 Posts: 5,244 Blog Entries: 1 Rep: 228 Unique Rep: 157 Hardware Reviews: 4 Trader Rating: 9	so .... Im lost.

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