Following the recent launch of its 1GHz Ezra-T-core C3 processor, VIA Technologies is set to push its processor speed up to 1.2GHz with a Nehemiah-core product this year. VIA has scheduled to send out samples at the end of the third quarter, and begin delivering the new processors by year-end.
To keep the processor line's current features of low heat dissipation and high cost/performance value, VIA said that the new Nehemiah-core product will continue adopting the Socket 370 architecture, but to meet the market demand, the company is also developing products based on the latest Socket 478 infrastructure. Still, until the end of this year, all of its C3 processors will use the Socket 370 standard.
Currently, VIA's C3 processor line includes five products, whose clock speeds reach 800MHz, 866MHz, 900MHz, 933MHz and 1GHz. According to the company's schedule, deliveries of the 1GHz C3 processors are expected to start in August. By the fourth quarter, VIA will release a new 1.1GHz version. As for its Nehemiah-core product, VIA also plans to raise its clock speed from 1.2Ghz to 1.4GHz by year-end.
Manufactured by Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) on the 0.13-micron fabrication process, VIA's C3 products have not been introduced as smoothly as the company originally expected. The launch of processors based on the Ezra and Nehemiah cores have even been postponed for one year.
The delay is generally speculated to have been caused by a slow fabrication process transition and Intel's strong promotion of the Socket 478-based Pentium 4 in the first half of 2002, which made motherboard makers unable to devote themselves to the development of Socket 370 products. As a result, although the C3's clock speed is gradually closing in on mainstream standards, it is still struggling for more market presence.
Besides the desktop market, VIA is also introducing a C3 E-Series platform for notebooks and thin-client servers. The company plans to shift the line to the Ezra-T-core processor in the fourth quarter and the Nehemiah-based product in 2003 at the earliest.

Source: DigiTimes

OS/2-eCS-ArcaOS General News

More in General  

OS/2-eCS-ArcaOS Software News

More in Software  

Latest Forum Posts

Site News

More in Site News