World-class IBM 90nm SOI process ensures ultra low power, ultra secure and ultra small processor packing a powerful punch, providing a quantum boost to x86 system design innovation
Taipei,
Taiwan, 27 May 2005 - VIA Technologies, Inc, a leading innovator and
developer of silicon chip technologies and PC platform solutions, today
announced the new VIA C7 processor family based on the ‘Esther’ core,
the world’s smallest, lowest power and most secure native x86 processor.
IBM’s
leading 90nm System-on-Insulator (SOI) manufacturing technology
employed at their state-of-the-art fabrication plant at East Fishkill,
New York has permitted unprecedented levels of integration, providing
the basis for significant performance boosts within industry-leading
power and thermal profiles. With a tiny die size of a mere 30mm2, the
VIA C7 processor idle power is as low as 100mW (0.1W), while 2.0GHz
will run at about 20 watts peak power, an average of 40% cooler than
competitor solutions.
Developed from the ground up
for low power by Centaur Technologies, VIA’s processor design
subsidiary based in Austin, Texas, USA, the VIA C7 processor is
especially targeted at mainstream thin and light notebooks, mini PCs,
green clients, personal electronics such as home media centers and
PVRs, and high density server and server appliances that leverage the
winning low power, low heat, high performance and high security
combination.
“For me, the ‘Esther’ core is the embodiment of
my vision for a cool, secure and versatile processor that will take the
x86 platform to the next level,” said Glenn Henry, President of Centaur
Technologies and chief architect of the power-efficient processor
design strategy. “It is the culmination of many years of designing for
the optimal balance of mobility, performance, and security.”
Initially
to be launched at speeds of up to 2.0GHz, the VIA C7 processor boasts
the highly efficient VIA V4 bus interface with speeds of up to 800MHz
with competitive write bandwidth and linear ordering modes, as well as
SSE2 and SSE3 support for enhanced multimedia performance, and 128KB of
both L1 and L2 on-die cache memory.
The VIA C7 processor
also signals an era of practical pervasive security due to the
industry-leading security features of the VIA PadLock Hardware Security
Suite, a family of advanced security technologies providing on-die
hardware acceleration for key cryptographic operations. In addition to
the world's best random number generator (RNG) and AES Encryption
Engine in the previous processor generation, the VIA C7 processor adds
SHA-1 and SHA-256 hashing for secure message digests, and a hardware
based Montgomery Multiplier supporting key sizes up to 32K in length to
accelerate public key cryptography, such as RSA™. The VIA C7 also
provides execute protection (NX), providing protection from malicious
software such as worms and viruses, and is used in Microsoft® Windows®
XP with SP2. Integrating security directly onto the processor die
ensures speeds and efficiency many times that available in software,
yet with negligible impact on processor performance.
“With
the rest of the market moving towards low power, heat efficient
processor design and distributed platforms, the industry is clearly
starting to follow the direction we have been championing for many
years,” said Wenchi Chen, President and CEO, VIA Technologies, Inc.
“The VIA C7 processor will underpin our next generation platforms and
enable us to maintain our leadership in driving the next wave of
platform innovation.”
VIA C7 Processor Availability
The VIA C7 processor will enter mass production at the end of Q2;
please contact your nearest sales office for more details, or email mkt@via.com.tw.
For more information on the VIA C7 processor, please visit the VIA website at:
http://www.via.com.tw/en/products/processors/c7/.
About VIA Technologies, Inc.
VIA Technologies, Inc. (TSE 2388) is the foremost fabless supplier of
market-leading core logic chipsets, low power x86 processors, advanced
connectivity, multimedia, networking and storage silicon, and complete
platform solutions that are driving system innovation in the PC and
embedded markets. Headquartered in Taipei, Taiwan, VIA's global network
links the high tech centers of the US, Europe and Asia, and its
customer base includes the world's top OEMs, motherboard vendors and
system integrators. www.via.com.tw.
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