Alex Zaharov-Reutt
Friday, 30 May 2008 13:51
Opinion and Analysis
Page 1 of 3
Taiwanese processor manufacturer Via, well known for cheap but poorly
performing processors has launched a new model, the Nano, which seeks
to overturn the performance tables while keeping costs low. Is it an
Atom smasher or yet another slow-poke wannabe?
When Intel announced its new Atom range of processors destined for “mobile Internet devices” and those sexy ultraportable subnotebook PCs, it seemed as though Intel had the market all sewn up.
Why? Because AMD’s GEODE processor is very slow, and Via’s other still-shipping mobile chip, the C7-M, doesn’t cut the speed mustard either, barely able to burn rubber, let alone leave any tyre marks on the road.
As you’d expect, deficiencies usually have marketing terms applied to them so they magically turn into advantages, which has meant Via has called itself a “leading innovator of power efficient x86 processor platforms” instead of “a leading innovator of the world’s slowest x86 platforms”.
But the
Via Nano, based on its “Isaiah” architecture, may change things somewhat for Via at last.
Funnily enough, Via says that its previous Via C7 processor had “market-leading energy efficiency”, but in the HP 2133 Mini-Note notebook, the system only delivers a paltry two hours of battery life.
Yes, that has lots to do with the size of the battery and other components, but two hours of battery life hardly screams out “energy efficiency” to me, whatever the number of watts or whatever else the processor is or isn’t doing.
Anyway the exciting part revolves around Via claiming the Nano “processor family offers as much as four times the performance within the same power range to extend VIA's performance per watt leadership, while pin compatibility with VIA C7 processors will ensure a smooth transition for OEMs and motherboard vendors, and provides them with an easy upgrade path for current system or board designs.”
I’ve read rumours that HP is planning on replacing the C7-M processor in the HP Mini-Note with one of these Nano processors. If the Nano performance claims from Via are true, it will be a godsend, as the little machine, amazing though it is, really should be renamed the Mini-Slowt, at least when running Windows Vista, which is arguably the wrong OS for such a machine – and the C7 processor.
So, what makes the Via Nano so radically different from previous Via processors aside from being new?
Please read on to page 2.
