VIA Press Conference

Next up, Cameron and I headed off to VIA's Press Conference. VIA announced quite a few new products at this years Computex, including the 1GHz C3, their Envy24HT audio controller and their new range of graphics chipsets. Firstly, the 1GHz C3 still uses the same Socket370 packaging as the previous C3 processors and features 0.13-micron technology with 64KB L2 cache and 128KB L1 cache. As many of you will probably know by now, the C3 isn't exactly the best choice for those that require maximum performance, however, it is ideal for users that require cool, quiet processing.

The Envy 24HT audio controller is a PCI solution that VIA say will bring "professional studio quality sound to the home PC user". It features 24-bit resolution and sampling rates up to 192kHz, as well as two inputs and ten outputs to the latest 5.1 and 7.1 surround sound systems. It was impossible for us to accurately test this sound solution at the press conference, however, the demo's VIA gave were definitely impressive.

VIA and S3 have also announced new mobile and desktop graphics chipsets. The mobile chipset has been called "AlphaChrome", and the desktop chipset has been called the "SavageXP", continuing S3s "Savage" name. The AlphaChrome boasts a multi-pipeline, multi-texture 3D processing engine with 128-bit DDR memory interface. It also features a 2-channel LVDS transmitter, CRT DAC and a TV-encoder as well as support for dual monitors. S3 say that this will be the highest performing SMA product available, however, we can't speculate on this as performance numbers have not yet been released. The AlphaChrome features an ultra-small 23x23mm PBGA packaging for 64-bit and a 27x27mm PBGA packaging for the full 128-bit interface.

The SavageXP is S3's mainstream graphics chipset that is directed at users who want reasonable performance at a very low price. It features a 64MB frame buffer with a 128-bit DDR memory interface, with 5.7GB/sec memory bandwidth. It also features hardware transform and lighting geometry processing and includes DVI and TV outputs. Like the AlphaChrome, the SavageXP supports dual-monitors thanks to S3's "Duo-View" technology. Tyan are S3's first certified partner and will be releasing their Tachyon G3300 graphics board featuring the SavageXP chipset in the near future.

Conclusion

That concludes our coverage of Computex Day 1. After visiting the VIA and AMD press conferences we did have a short walk around the show floor and took a few pictures, however, we thought we'd save them for tomorrow's coverage. Computex 2002 is shaping up to be very interesting indeed, and you can rest assured that TweakTown will bring you the latest updates as the event unfolds.