VIA unveils PC on a chip

VIA unveils PC on a chip

Combines 2GHz CPU and 3D graphics in thumbnail-sized package

New Delhi June 10 Chipmaker VIA Technologies has announced a single chip which can replace the majority of the key components on a PC mainboard.

The chip will go into mass production later this year, and is expected to appear in products next year.

According to VIA chief executive Wenchi Chen ” New chip will allow PC developers to make palm-sized computers with help of new VIA motherboard board built around the chip, codenamed ‘John’.

The ‘John’ was displayed at ongoing IT trade show Computex in Taiwan yesterday.

Taiwan-based VIA is targeting the new chip, and similar existing products, at mobile devices, thin client PCs, and other devices in which space, weight or power consumption are at a premium.

The ’system on a chip’ is made by packaging two separate chips so they occupy the space of one,

The component chips are VIA’s 2GHz C7-M low voltage CPU and VX700 chipset. The VX700 is an earlier creation which combines two large chips into one, and includes entry-level 3D graphics support.

VIA’s CPUs and chipsets are already noted for their low power consumption. Packaging the chips closely together would bring further significant power savings, said Wenchi Chen

The new chip would probably start appearing in large numbers of products by next year.