News Release

VIA Eden ESP Processors Now Fanless at Speeds up to 1GHz

Widespread adoption of new fanless VIA Eden ESP10000 and ESP8000 by leading embedded system developers shows growing market momentum for VIA's low-power x86 processors with world's most advanced embedded security features

Taipei, Taiwan, 10 February 2004 - VIA Technologies, Inc, a leading innovator and developer of silicon chip technologies and PC platform solutions, today announced the worldwide availability of the new VIA Eden™ ESP10000 and ESP8000 processors.

Based on the advanced CoolStream™ architecture of the "Nehemiah" core, the VIA Eden™ ESP10000 and ESP8000 combine enhanced digital media performance with unique thermal characteristics that minimize power consumption to as little as 7 watts when running at a speed of 1GHz, enabling the development of more compact systems that run quieter and cooler. They also boast the second generation PadLock Security Suite, the industry's most advanced embedded hardware technologies that includes high-speed hardware based AES encryption and two Random Number Generators (RNGs).

"The VIA Eden ESP10000 and ESP8000 processors have raised the bar for performance and innovation for an almost unlimited variety of fanless smart connected devices," commented Steven S. Lee, Head of the VIA Embedded Platform Division, VIA Technologies, Inc. "With the PadLock Security Suite integrated into the processor die, we are also enabling our customers to add further value to their products by making the very latest encryption technologies easily available."

The VIA Eden ESP10000 and ESP8000 processors are already being designed into the next generation of computing and communications devices, including thin clients, personal servers and industrial PC platforms, bringing unrivaled power efficiency and increased performance to digital entertainment, productivity and industrial automation systems.

VIA Eden ESP Processors Ideal for Compact, Low Heat, Low Noise Thin Clients

The new VIA Eden ESP8000 and ESP10000 processors extend the capability of smart connected digital devices and enable greater design innovation by allowing more compact systems that run quieter and cooler. In this way, the VIA Eden ESP processor family is helping to drive the market in next generation thin clients, providing reliable, always on operation for a wide range of productivity and front office applications. Key thin client developers are already supporting the new VIA Eden ESP processors, including C.P. Technology, BCom Electronics and Termtek Computer.

"With their fanless operation and ultra low power consumption, the fanless VIA Eden ESP processors are ideal for slim, ergonomically designed thin clients," declared Benson Liu, Vice President at BCom Electronics, Inc. "We specifically chose the VIA Eden ESP8000 processor for our Thin Clients because it provides the best balance between performance and power consumption with our client-server application."

"We are proud to continue our collaboration with VIA by incorporating their new fanless VIA Eden ESP10000 processor into our product range, providing our customers with the highest performance, fanless systems possible," said Ted Chen, CEO, C.P. Technology Co., Ltd. "VIA's fanless Eden ESP processors allow us to quickly and easily upgrade our product line, keeping our customers satisfied with the best performance solutions and quick time to market."

"Being fanless and featuring ultra low power consumption without the need for extra cooling, VIA's Eden ESP processors are ideal for small and quiet Thin Clients that can be easily upgraded," said Elven Men, Vice President of R&D, TERMTEK Computer Co., Ltd. "We have specifically chosen the VIA Eden ESP10000 processor for our Thin Clients as it features these characteristics, while offering support for much needed security and enabling us to design reliable and stable systems for our customers in the Thin Client market."

The innovative Nimble V5 personal video conferencing system runs almost silently due to the fanless VIA Eden processor, providing the home or office with point-to-point video, voice and data communication over wired or wireless broadband networks. "By incorporating the VIA Eden ESP8000 processor into our product line, we can provide our customers with the world's most advanced communications PC," said Dr. Jeng-Feng Lee, CEO of Nimble Microsystems. "Apart from performance, our customers are also looking for the flexibility and rich feature-set available with VIA's digital media chipsets and other IC that make up the VIA Eden Platform."

Leading Industrial PC Vendors Adopt the New VIA Eden ESP Processors

The new VIA Eden ESP processors are pin-to-pin compatible with other VIA processors and operate within a similar thermal envelope as the VIA Eden ESP7000, making it easier for VIA customers to incorporate them into existing fanless designs. The higher speed fanless processors are highly valued in the industrial PC market for their excellent thermal properties, leading to reliable, low maintenance operation, and the industry has been quick to take advantage of them, including industry leaders Kontron, WinSystems and IEI.

"Our use of fanless VIA Eden processors allows our customers to take full advantage of the processing power of up to 1GHz at ultra low power consumption," said Claus Giebert product manager at Kontron. "The integrated support for enhanced security functions increases the level of security at which transactions are carried out, which makes the VIA Eden ESP10000 processor ideal for today's demanding commercial markets."

"The new VIA Eden ESP processors provide the utmost reliability and efficiency demanded by the embedded market, and the new security features provide great added value," declared Robert A. Burckle, Vice-President of WinSystems, Inc. "Their ultra low power consumption helps to ensure that we can incorporate them easily into our existing products, even when running a 1GHz processor."

"IEI Corporation and VIA share a common goal to provide reliable, high-performance solutions for embedded applications," commented Jack Lin, Product Marketing Manager, IEI Corporation. "We are excited that with the new fanless VIA Eden ESP processors we are able to design ultra compact and small PC systems, featuring the lowest possible power consumption with performance of up to 1GHz."

VIA Eden ESP8000 and VIA Eden ESP10000 Pricing and Availability

The VIA Eden ESP8000 and VIA Eden ESP10000 are shipping in volume now, at prices of US$85 and US$100 respectively. Please contact your local VIA sales office or send an email to mkt@via.com.tw for more information.

About the VIA Eden ESP Processor

The new VIA Eden ESP processor is based on the CoolStream architecture of the latest Nehemiah core featuring the PadLock Security Suite integrated directly on to the processor die that includes the new PadLock Advanced Cryptography Engine (ACE) and two hardware based RNGs. This produces market leading encryption rates of 12.5Gbs with minimal load on the processor, enabling compact, low power designs that can natively assist security applications.

Fanless VIA Eden ESP processors are available at speeds ranging from 400MHz to 1GHz and feature the low profile EBGA package that helps reduce thermal density. Measuring a mere 35mm x 35mm x 1.5mm, the VIA Eden ESP processor is expanding the reach of the x86 architecture to consumer electronics, industrial and commercial devices that require compatibility with PC hardware and software. With Thermal Design Power (TDP) values ranging from 3W to a maximum of 7W when running at 1GHz, the VIA Eden ESP processor also boasts the world's lowest power consumption from a native x86 processor.

The VIA Eden ESP processor comes packed with all the advanced performance features of the Nehemiah core such as StepAhead™ Advanced Branch Prediction, sixteen pipeline stages, support for SSE multimedia instructions, a full-speed Floating Point Unit (FPU) and an efficiency-enhanced 64KB Full-Speed Exclusive L2 cache with 16-way associativity for memory optimization. For enhanced digital media applications such as high quality DVD and audio playback, the VIA Eden ESP processor can be coupled with the highly acclaimed VIA CLE266 chipset, featuring an integrated hardware MPEG-2 decoder, DDR266 SDRAM support, VIA Vinyl™ Audio integrated 6-channel surround sound, high-speed USB2.0 ports, and 10/100 Mbps Fast Ethernet.

For more information on the VIA Eden ESP processor, please visit the VIA Eden ESP processor website at:
http://www.via.com.tw/en/Products/eden_esp10000.jsp.

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