VIA last week announced the VN800 chipset, which integrates UniChrome Pro graphics, compatible with both the company?s own C7-M and Intel?s Pentium M processors through Flexi-Bus Technology.
The chipset also offers support to DDR2-533 memory and sports an AGP 8x slot for an external
VGA card. VIA claims that, when paired, the C7-M and the VN800 can cut power consumption by
up to 50%. The VT8237A south bridge provides Serial ATA, Vynil Audio, Gigabit Ethernet, USB
2.0, FireWire and WLAN connectivity.
The VIA VN800 features the S3 Graphics UniChrome Pro Integrated Graphics Processor (IGP),
providing dual pipeline graphics performance through a 128-bit 2D/3D engine and shared DDR
memory support for all the latest applications, while the Chromotion CE Video Display Engine
blends hardware-based MPEG-2 decoding acceleration with advanced rendering tools such as
Adaptive De-interlacing and Video Deblocking to ensure the clearest playback of digital
media content. Furthermore, the VIA VN800 includes support for an external AGP 8X port
allowing optional graphics processor upgrades on supporting notebooks.
Utilizing the unique VIA Flexi-Bus Technology, the VIA VN800 enables support for the highly
efficient VIA V4 bus interface for the new VIA C7-M processor, as well as support for the
Intel Pentium-M processor, giving notebook manufacturers maximum design flexibility. The VIA
VN800 also supports power efficient DDR2 533/400MHz memory modules for high speed memory
access with low power consumption, helping to further extend notebook battery life.
The VIA VN800 also features the high bandwidth V-Link bus to allow communication between the
chipset's North and South bridges. When combined with solutions such as the VIA VT 8237A
South Bridge and a broad array of VIA companion chips, the VIA VN800 provides native Serial
ATA and support for 6-channel or 8-channel VIA Vinyl Audio, VIA Velocity Gigabit Ethernet
and wireless LAN connectivity, USB2.0 and 1394.
Further information on the VIA VN800 mobile IGP chipset may be found on the VIA website at:
www.via.com.tw/en/products/chipsets/v-series/vn800/.