VIA introduces a new contestant in the netbook CPU market

By: Piotr Mazurkiewicz

And it has a potential to dethrone Atom

The company has just announced a new chip series called ‘Nano 3000’. These are single core processors which, just like Nano 2000 series, are manufactured in the 65nm fabrication process. A major change over previous generation is an introduction of support for SSE4 instructions, which significantly boosts performance. The new x86 platform is based on 64 bit ‘Isaiah’ microarchitecture, which by inclusion of Adaptive PowerSaver Technology promises both low power consumption and enhanced digital media performance. VIA Technologies also promises that the new Nano 3000 will be fully capable of running a 64 bit version of Windows 7 with full CPU virtualisation. VIA has also managed to squash in the new PadaLock security feature to enhance hardware security.

The new platform is uses a generous 800MHz front side bus and 1MB of level 2 cache and will come in Ultra Low and Low Voltage versions clocked between 1.0 and 2.0GHz (look figure 1). Performance-wise, VIA claims the new platform is more than 20% faster than a previous generation and a massive 40% faster than current Intel offerings. To put that into numbers, Nano 3000 has scored 43% more PC Marks (2005), 49% more 3DMarks (2006) and 34.5% more in Cinebench R10 than Intel Atom N270. Impressive video performance (when compared to Intel’s obscure GMA500) is provided by VIA’s Chrome9 HC3 graphics chip, which is powerful enough to decode 1080p videos!

Exact details on Thermal Design Power have not been revealed, however VIA stated that the new chipset will be 20% more efficient than previous generation. Ultra Low Voltage models consume sonly 100mW when Idle, while Low Voltage alternatives consume 500mW which is exactly the same as Nano 2000 series.
The new chipset should be available in the first quarter of 2010. The rest depends entirely on the competition, which is not sleeping. In the same timescale Intel plans a release of Dual Core Atoms, which could make the new Nano much less shiny.