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VIA to return to CPU Market with Zhaoxin processors
Chip maker VIA is set on making a return to the CPU market. You might remember them from the past, they became known with their motherboard chipsets and Cyrix procs actually. They are working on a Zhaoxin series CPUs, which are to compete with AMD and Intel. The newly introduced KX-5000 processors provide eight x86 cores at a clock rate of 2.0 GHz.
Zhaoxin has introduced the KX-5000 x86 chips, which are equipped with DDR4 memory and a graphics unit. With this first release, VIA plans to be in line with AMD within two generations of product releases. Since everything in the CPU market is about licenses and patents, the good news for VIA is that they have an x86 license for processors, which could be used for cross-license agreements.
The KX-5000 is a native Octa-core with initially 2 GHz in the form of a system-on-a-chip. It integrates a graphics unit for 4K video, a dual-channel DDR4 controller, PCIe Gen3 lanes, USB 3.1 Gen2 and Sata 6 Gbps. The design is meant to run up-to 2.4 GHz and actually will be used by Lenovo in 2018 with the desktop system M6200. For the next few years, the KX-6000 and the KX-7000 are planned.
A roadmap of Zhaoxin shows that in the future a 16nm processor is in the works, with 8 cores on a DIE. That core clock is expected to rise to 3.0 gigahertz, but further improvements in architecture are not mentioned. In a later stage, KX-7000 would switch to PCI-E 4.0 and DDR5. As Tralalak reports, these processors are expected to reach the same level as the AMD processors, probably comparable with Zen 2 in 2019.
Sources: PC Games Hardware, Zhaoxin, Golem
Fender178
Senior Member
Posts: 4186
Joined: 2004-09-28
Senior Member
Posts: 4186
Joined: 2004-09-28
#5506428 Posted on: 01/02/2018 05:06 PM
I agree it's good to have them around, but if people think having them around is good for the sake of competition, that likely isn't going to be the case. Back when VIA released their last generation of x86 CPUs, nobody gave a crap, even though they had the cheapest and lowest wattage x86 quad cores.
Possibly - I haven't heard of that. But considering that SIS, Nvidia, and whoever else I'm forgetting also stopped making chipsets at around the same time, I don't think the lawsuit had everything to do with it. Now that I thought about it it was one of the two companies sued by Intel in the late 1990s. I knew that Nvidia was sued by Intel over something containing to chipsets.
I agree it's good to have them around, but if people think having them around is good for the sake of competition, that likely isn't going to be the case. Back when VIA released their last generation of x86 CPUs, nobody gave a crap, even though they had the cheapest and lowest wattage x86 quad cores.
Possibly - I haven't heard of that. But considering that SIS, Nvidia, and whoever else I'm forgetting also stopped making chipsets at around the same time, I don't think the lawsuit had everything to do with it. Now that I thought about it it was one of the two companies sued by Intel in the late 1990s. I knew that Nvidia was sued by Intel over something containing to chipsets.
Evildead666
Senior Member
Posts: 1309
Joined: 2003-09-14
Senior Member
Posts: 1309
Joined: 2003-09-14
#5506431 Posted on: 01/02/2018 05:09 PM
I agree it's good to have them around, but if people think having them around is good for the sake of competition, that likely isn't going to be the case. Back when VIA released their last generation of x86 CPUs, nobody gave a crap, even though they had the cheapest and lowest wattage x86 quad cores.
Possibly - I haven't heard of that. But considering that SIS, Nvidia, and whoever else I'm forgetting also stopped making chipsets at around the same time, I don't think the lawsuit had everything to do with it.
Intel changed their CPU-Chipset bus, and i'm not sure they licenced the new one, at all.
This left Nvidia, Via, and many others, without any chipset-bus licences.
They could still do AMD, but that would be all, iirc.
Via's dual core and quad core designs weren't that bad, its just that they weren't available.
I wanted some Pico-ITX boards, basically for what I have a Pi2/3 do today.
Couldn't find any to buy anywhere.
I suspect this chip is all based on the Centaur/Isiah tech iirc, of their last cores, and has been "updated" to a better process node, and has DDR4 and PCIe3 as well.
The proof will be in the benchmarks....
edit: The other thing I worry about, is the GPU. S3, and DX11 only....it could still be better than Intels integrated GPU on the Atoms though
I agree it's good to have them around, but if people think having them around is good for the sake of competition, that likely isn't going to be the case. Back when VIA released their last generation of x86 CPUs, nobody gave a crap, even though they had the cheapest and lowest wattage x86 quad cores.
Possibly - I haven't heard of that. But considering that SIS, Nvidia, and whoever else I'm forgetting also stopped making chipsets at around the same time, I don't think the lawsuit had everything to do with it.
Intel changed their CPU-Chipset bus, and i'm not sure they licenced the new one, at all.
This left Nvidia, Via, and many others, without any chipset-bus licences.
They could still do AMD, but that would be all, iirc.
Via's dual core and quad core designs weren't that bad, its just that they weren't available.
I wanted some Pico-ITX boards, basically for what I have a Pi2/3 do today.
Couldn't find any to buy anywhere.
I suspect this chip is all based on the Centaur/Isiah tech iirc, of their last cores, and has been "updated" to a better process node, and has DDR4 and PCIe3 as well.
The proof will be in the benchmarks....
edit: The other thing I worry about, is the GPU. S3, and DX11 only....it could still be better than Intels integrated GPU on the Atoms though
H83
Senior Member
Posts: 3867
Joined: 2009-09-08
Senior Member
Posts: 3867
Joined: 2009-09-08
#5506436 Posted on: 01/02/2018 05:17 PM
Depends on people expectations, people expecting another competitor in the low end CPU market are going to be pleased, the others expecting a strong opponent for Intel.´s and AMD´s high end are going to be severely disappointed...
I think VIA could make a "killing" if they manage to sell those CPUs on poor countries where people just want a cheap computer.
I agree it's good to have them around, but if people think having them around is good for the sake of competition, that likely isn't going to be the case. Back when VIA released their last generation of x86 CPUs, nobody gave a crap, even though they had the cheapest and lowest wattage x86 quad cores.
Depends on people expectations, people expecting another competitor in the low end CPU market are going to be pleased, the others expecting a strong opponent for Intel.´s and AMD´s high end are going to be severely disappointed...
I think VIA could make a "killing" if they manage to sell those CPUs on poor countries where people just want a cheap computer.
schmidtbag
Senior Member
Posts: 6493
Joined: 2012-11-10
Senior Member
Posts: 6493
Joined: 2012-11-10
#5506439 Posted on: 01/02/2018 05:24 PM
Depends on people expectations, people expecting another competitor in the low end CPU market are going to be pleased, the others expecting a strong opponent for Intel.´s and AMD´s high end are going to be severely disappointed...
I think VIA could make a "killing" if they manage to sell those CPUs on poor countries where people just want a cheap computer.
As I said before, VIA has never made good desktop products, due to things like GPU and expansion limitations. They make great products, but only for niche industries. Most home users who want an ultra-small IoT device based on x86 are better off getting something like an Intel Galileo or an AMD Gizmo. Most home users who want an ultra-small and/or cheap HTPC or server are better off getting an ARM development board. There's just no market for VIA at home, which is why we never see them despite the fact that the company is still making sales.
Since AMD now has a cheap energy-efficient modular x86 platform, we're actually even less likely to see VIA in home environments. At this rate, the only advantage VIA will have is size, where AMD's products are relatively gigantic.
Depends on people expectations, people expecting another competitor in the low end CPU market are going to be pleased, the others expecting a strong opponent for Intel.´s and AMD´s high end are going to be severely disappointed...
I think VIA could make a "killing" if they manage to sell those CPUs on poor countries where people just want a cheap computer.
As I said before, VIA has never made good desktop products, due to things like GPU and expansion limitations. They make great products, but only for niche industries. Most home users who want an ultra-small IoT device based on x86 are better off getting something like an Intel Galileo or an AMD Gizmo. Most home users who want an ultra-small and/or cheap HTPC or server are better off getting an ARM development board. There's just no market for VIA at home, which is why we never see them despite the fact that the company is still making sales.
Since AMD now has a cheap energy-efficient modular x86 platform, we're actually even less likely to see VIA in home environments. At this rate, the only advantage VIA will have is size, where AMD's products are relatively gigantic.
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Senior Member
Posts: 6493
Joined: 2012-11-10
I agree it's good to have them around, but if people think having them around is good for the sake of competition, that likely isn't going to be the case. Back when VIA released their last generation of x86 CPUs, nobody gave a crap, even though they had the cheapest and lowest wattage x86 quad cores.
Possibly - I haven't heard of that. But considering that SIS, Nvidia, and whoever else I'm forgetting also stopped making chipsets at around the same time, I don't think the lawsuit had everything to do with it.