News Release

VIA Announces Chipset Support for the New AMD Opteron™ Processor

VIA Apollo K8T800 Chipset leverages HyperTransport™ technology, VIA Ultra V-Link and integrated SATA/RAID to provide the bandwidth necessary to feed demanding enterprise class applications.

Taipei, Taiwan, 22 April 2003 - VIA Technologies, Inc, a leading innovator and developer of silicon chip technologies and PC platform solutions, today announced chipset support for the new AMD Opteron™ processor for server and workstation systems.

The VIA K8T800 Chipset, built around a high speed, low latency HyperTransport™ link to the AMD Opteron™ processor, is designed to enable a new generation of powerful server solutions suitable for firewall, cache and load balancing applications, as well as Web hosting. The K8T800 is also suitable for workstation applications with the North Bridge integrating an AGP 8X controller allowing the AMD Opteron processor based system to interface with the latest professional class 3D graphics processors.

The K8T800 North Bridge connects to the VT8237 South Bridge through the new VIA Ultra V-Link connection offering over 1GB/s of bandwidth and keeping the CPU supplied with a constant stream of data. The VT8237 South Bridge features the industry's first integrated dual channel Serial-ATA RAID controller supporting RAID levels 0, 1, 0+1 and JBOD, as well as dual channel Parallel ATA-133 for backwards compatibility, giving system designers unparalleled power and flexibility in designing storage configurations.

"The latest integrated I/O technology including Serial ATA/RAID combined with high throughput chip interconnects like HyperTransport and Ultra V-Link, make the K8T800 the ideal Chipset solution for 1-2P server or workstation solutions based on the AMD Opteron processor," commented Chewei Lin, Vice President of Product Marketing, VIA Technologies, Inc. "VIA is very proud to continue pushing the boundaries of core-logic chipset technology in tandem with the introduction of AMD's new x86-64 processors."

About the VIA K8T800

The VIA K8T800 Chipset is the foundation on which AMD Opteron™ based systems will be built. The K8T800 North Bridge with an ultra fast HyperTransport link supporting up to two Opteron processors and AGP 8X, is a feature rich and scalable platform for server and workstation systems.

The K8T800 North Bridge connects to the VT8237 South Bridge through the fast Ultra V-Link connection at 1.06GB/s. With support for two Serial ATA channels in the VIA VT8237 South Bridge supplying 150MB/s of bandwidth, integrated RAID (0, 1, 0+1 & JBOD) capability as well as up to eight USB 2.0 ports, the VT8237 offers the highest possible peripheral performance for professional users. The VT8237 also integrates VIA Vinyl Audio technology with Six-TRAC surround sound for an enhanced end user experience. To extend flexibility to the system integrator, the VT8237 features dual channel Parallel ATA-133 support allowing for configurations that leverage the existing technology standard. Additional features include a VIA MAC for 10/100Mbps Fast Ethernet, integrated PCI support, and an MC'97 modem.

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