VTF 2002: Eden processors and chipsets. Awaiting Neemiah
VTF 2002, that took place this week, organized by VIA Technologies, brought news about the future Eden processor platform along with the info about VIA C3 updated roadmap.
Next year ESP processors, used in Eden, are expected to reach 1GHz and higher (currently there are ESP4000, ESP5000, and ESP6000 chips, featuring 400MHz, 533MHz, 667MHz clocks, respectively). Now the company prepares to release ESP8000 and ESP10K with 800MHz and 1GHz, respectively. ESP8000 is expected to feature Nehemiah core, next generation after VIA C3.ESP10K will feature the next generation core (Esther?) after Nehemiah, supporting SSE/SSE2 (FYI: ESP8000 will support only SSE). ESP8000 is expected to appear in November, volume shipments are scheduled to Q1 2003. ESP10K will be announced in Q3 2003, volume shipments wil begin in Q4 2003. According to provisional data, ESP8000 / ESP10K will require up to 6W/8W.
For the sake of justice I´d mention that 1Ghz C3 with Ezra-T core, officially announced in August, but not volume-produced since then, was removed from the roadmap. Now C3 line by 933 MHz chip.
1GHz chip was replaced by Nehemiah-based CPU. In Q4 this year VIA plans to ship 1GHz Nehemiah-based processor, supporting MMX and SSE1. 1.1/1.2/1.3/1.4 GHz products are scheduled to the next year. Unlike, Eden ESP roadmap, SSE/SSE2 support is not present in the processor roadmap. Does it mean that due to Intel´s Socket 370 support cancellation, VIA will only advance its Eden platform and won´t release "discrete" processors? It´s early to guess, but this seems rather real...
Currently, Eden platform features PLE133, Mobile Twister-T, Twister-T DDR, CLE266, VT694X, or Pro266T Northbridges, combined with VT686B, VT8231, or VT8235 Southbridges. Closest VIA plans include the release of new CLE++ Northbridge with CastleRock II integrated graphics (CLE266 utilizes CastleRock), in combination with new VT8237 Southbridge.
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