X-bit labs

VIA Jumps on 64-bit Bandwagon.

Category: CPU

by Anton Shilov

[ 10/15/2004 | 09:51 PM ]

VIA Technologies, a designer of chipsets, microprocessors and graphics chips, recently announced details on its first x86-64 microprocessor code-named Isaiah, which is slated to come more than a year from now and put VIA into the line with Intel Corp. and AMD with 64-bit chips.

VIA Isaiah will be VIA’s first processor with 64-bit capability, something that AMD and Intel are offering already today for various markets. Besides, the chip will have build-in PadLock security features with enhancements, a number of multimedia enhancements, increased cache sizes, and even a kind of answer to Intel’s Hyper-Threading – an out-of-order execution engine that allows the processor to handle different types of tasks at the same time. VIA stresses that the new processor will not devour a lot of power and will continue VIA’s stretch of low-power chips.

“With the Isaiah core architecture we have focused on radically improving the media performance of our processors without losing sight of the low power consumption and efficient use of transistors that have always been our design goals,” said Glenn Henry, President, Centaur Technology, the processor design subsidiary of VIA Technologies.

VIA did not reveal any actual details about the chip, though. The company did not say which infrastructure is required for the Isaiah chip, which core-clocks are expected to be common for the processor and whether the chip will have build-in memory controller, like AMD Athlon 64 and AMD Opteron microprocessors.

The Isaiah core is expected to be available in the first half of 2006. Additional information about the core will be disclosed at a later date.