VIA Begins Sampling of VIA K8T900 Chipset
Designed to deliver premium support for multi-graphics card implementations with enhanced performance and expanded connectivity for AMD Athlon™ 64 platforms
Taipei, Taiwan, November 22 2005 - VIA Technologies, Inc, a leading innovator and developer of silicon chip technologies and PC platform solutions, today announced that VIA’s latest high performance chipset for the AMD platform, the VIA K8T900, is sampling to leading motherboard partners to create platforms tailored for the PC enthusiast market.
Integrating VIA’s proprietary RapidFire™ technology that incorporates a number of PCI Express enhancements, the VIA K8T900 offers exceptional performance across the board, while also featuring industry leading low power consumption. With the Flex Express™ architecture the VIA K8T900 supports advanced connectivity options including dual x8 PCI Express connections for the latest multi-graphics card configurations or alternatively a standard single x16 PCI Express graphics connection. In combination with the VIA VT8251 South Bridge the K8T900 platform offers unparalled peripheral support with an additional six x1 PCI Express connections, as well as supporting up to four high speed SATA 3.0Gb/s hard drives, and VIA Vinyl High Definition audio.
“The VIA K8T900 chipset continues a strong path of support for all market segments of the AMD platform,” commented Chewei Lin, Vice President of Product Marketing, VIA Technologies, Inc. “VIA’s high performance RapidFire™ technology, combined with dual x8 PCI Express graphics connections, makes VIA K8T900 an unbeatable platform for the enthusiast community delivering high levels of performance, a premium feature set, and unparalleled stability and compatibility.”
VIA has also been working very closely with S3 Graphics to ensure support for upcoming MultiChrome technology enabling two or more Chrome S27 cards to operate together enabling higher levels of 3D acceleration. To ensure premium support for MultiChrome configurations, the VIA K8T900’s dual x8 PCI Express connections ensure plenty of graphics bandwidth, together with special attention to chipset features that enable high speed communication between the graphic cards without the need for special connectors or cables.
“MultiChrome technology is a standard feature in all graphics cards based on our Chrome S27 graphics processors providing a powerful upgrade path for gamers looking for cost effective high performance 3D action,” commented Dr. Ken Weng, General Manager of S3 Graphics. “S3 Graphics has been working very closely with VIA in the development of our MultiChrome technology, and based on its outstanding performance we certainly consider VIA K8T900 as today’s premium platform to support MultiChrome configurations.”
About the VIA K8T900 Chipset
Designed to support a complete range of AMD Athlon™ 64, and AMD Athlon™ 64 FX processors, the VIA K8T900 delivers a leading edge platform for PC Enthusiasts. Featuring VIA RapidFire™ technology for leading performance, the VIA K8T900 also integrates a single x16 PCI Graphics card connection or alternatively two x8 PCI Express connections supporting for the latest high performance multi graphics card configurations. In addition the VIA K8T900 supports an additional four x1 PCI Express connections to the latest PCI Express peripheral devices. In combination with the latest VIA VT8251 South Bridge the VIA K8T900 platform offers leading edge connectivity with support for an additional two x1 PCI Express connections, four SATA 3.0Gb/s connections with VIA V-RAID support, and the VIA Vinyl Audio suite including support for High Definition audio. VIA K8T900 is also designed to be pin-for-pin compatible with existing VIA K8T890 chipset platforms. For further information about the VIA K8T900 chipset please visit the VIA website.
VIA K8T900 Availability and Pricing
VIA K8T900 is expected to be available in volume quantities in Q1 2006. Pricing is available upon request.
About S3 Graphics Chrome S27 with MultiChrome Technology
With a core clock of 700Mhz, Chrome S27 operates at the highest frequency of any GPU currently available, yet takes full advantage of its highly efficient design and ultra low power 90nm manufacturing to set new records for performance per watt. Chrome S27 also offers flexible memory support up to DDR3, and a powerful visual experience with the Chromotion 3.0 video engine. All Chrome S27 graphic cards are MultiChrome enabled, S3 Graphics open platform and cable free multi processor technology. Through its advanced driver technology, MultiChrome technology can intelligently enable the rendering of 3D applications using Alternative Frame Rendering (AFR) or Spit Frame Rendering (SFR) modes making possible high rates of acceleration for today’s leading game titles. For more information on the S3 Graphic’s Chrome S27 processors, please visit s3graphics.com.
About VIA Technologies, Inc.
VIA Technologies, Inc. (TSE 2388) is the foremost fabless supplier of market-leading core logic chipsets, low power x86 processors, advanced connectivity, multimedia, networking and storage silicon, and complete platform solutions that are driving system innovation in the PC and embedded markets. Headquartered in Taipei, Taiwan, VIA’s global network links the high tech centers of the US, Europe and Asia, and its customer base includes the world’s top OEMs, motherboard vendors and system integrators.
