Alex Zaharov-Reutt
Friday, 30 May 2008 13:51
Opinion and Analysis
Page 2 of 3
First up, Via’s finally been able to bring 64-bit to the mobile processing table. It’s also superscalar, which means it can perform more than one instruction per clock cycle, a very important new capability, and can handle speculative out-of-order processing, something Intel’s been able to do for some time.
Via’s additional detail on the 64-bit full instruction set is that it “provides for macro-fusion and micro-fusion functionality, and sophisticated branch prediction for greater processor efficiency and performance.”
It's only a single core processor at the moment, Via is apparently working on dual-core processors but they're not available yet, I guess we might see them sometime in 2009.
Back to the Nano: Via also touts the High-Performance Computation and Media Processing saying that the “high-speed, low power VIA V4 Front Side Bus starting at 800MHz, plus a high floating point unit, support for new SSE instructions, and two 64KB L1 caches and 1MB exclusive L2 cache with 16-way associativity gives a big boost to multimedia performance.”
All of this means there’s enough power to actually play a Blu-ray disc movie in high def, or run games like Crysis – things Via’s previous processors couldn’t do.
Other features include “Advanced Power and Thermal Management: Aggressive management of active power includes support for the new "C6" power state, “Adaptive PowerSaver” Technology, new circuit techniques and mechanisms for managing the die temperature, reducing power draw and improving thermal management.”
Via also touts its green manufacturing, saying that in addition to full compliance with RoHS and WEEE regulations, “product manufacturing will be halogen-free and lead-free at launch, helping to promote a cleaner environment and more sustainable computing.”
The Nano also has an “Enhanced VIA PadLock Security Engine”, which delivers “industry-leading on-die hardware cryptographic acceleration and security features, including dual quantum random number generators, an AES Encryption Engine, NX-bit, and SHA-1 and SHA-256 hashing.”
Via says the Nano processor uses Fujitsu’s 65 nanometer (nm) process, an improvement on the 90nm process used in the IBM-manfactured C7-M. While that’s not as small as the 45nm technology that Intel is using in many of its processors today, it’s still a step up for Via.
Wenchi Chen, President and CEO, VIA Technologies, Inc said: "VIA Nano processors represent the next generation of x86 technology, providing the fundamental building blocks for a new genre of optimized computing solutions. 'Small is Beautiful' is more than a design strategy; it's our vision of where the PC market is heading and our new processors will help the market realize that dream."
So, what flavours will the Nano come in? Unlike the iPod Nano, the Via Nano won’t come in different colours, but it will come in different voltages and speeds. Please read on to page 3.
