VIA CPU to power new Compaq desktop

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VIA has served notice that the desktop CPU market is not entirely a two-horse race between Intel and AMD. The company's C7-D CPU, a modern x86 offshoot which emphasizes ultra-low power operation, will be at the heart of the HP Compaq dx2020 computer, a new desktop aimed at the Chinese market. VIA, based in Taiwan, heavily targets the Chinese mainland, as its processors have found little traction among first- and second-tier integrators in other territories.

VIA, better known for its third-party motherboards and controller chipsets, has been building its CPU group for some time through acquisition and internal development. VIA picked up key components of Cyrix when that company's assets were portioned out. At one time, Cyrix and AMD competed on roughly equal footing on the fringes of the Wintel market. But a series of missteps and acquisitions for Cyrix combined with AMD's breakthrough Athlon processor put the Cyrix chips on the sideline, where VIA eventually picked them up and has repurposed them primarily for embedded and enthusiast configurations. VIA also acquired IDT's Centaur business, a third producer of x86 clones, and has integrated Centaur WinChip engineers and technologies into its newer C3 and C7 CPU designs.

Rather than race Intel and AMD on performance, VIA has selected different niches for its technology. Some of its CPU designs are capable of running with only a heatsink providing cooling, a novelty in modern x86 chips. VIA has also embedded encryption and security modules in its C3 and C7 cores.

Two years ago, VIA announced that HP was using its extremely low-power VIA Eden chip line in a series of Compaq-branded thin client machines. But the dx2020 represents the first major OEM win for a true desktop machine for the Cyrix/VIA technology in some time. The dx2020 is a 1.5 GHz system and reportedly will be sold with Windows XP.

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