VIA is no longer a name associated with first choices, whether you're considering graphics, chipset, or CPUs. Although low price points make it a popular choice, most benchmarks put its rivals' products in the lead. Because of this, VIA has never carved a dominating lead in any of these core markets. It does, however, remain a name to seek out if you're looking for a Mini- ITX solution.
Not to be confused with Micro- ATX, Mini-ITX is about embedding x86 compliant PCs into a much smaller space. The Epia CN13000 measures just 170x170mm, yet it has the features that would be found in a larger PC, including VGA, TV-out, USB and audio.
The difference is that while Micro-ATX boards support the same Intel and AMD CPUs that ATX desktop PCs do, Epia Mini ITX motherboards come with a custom-built VIA CPU, the C7.
The C7 is the latest in a line of processor architectures stretching back to VIA's 1999 acquisition of Cyrix and Centaur from IDT National Semiconductor. Cyrix helped create the market for budget processors, but lost the performance battle to AMD and similarly focused budget offerings. VIA took the technology behind Centaur's WinChip and the brand name of Cyrix to create the Cyrix III processor.
The original Socket 7 WinChip core suffered from a half-speed FPU and used less transistors than Intel's Pentium. It did benefit from a smaller surface area though, as well as lower costs and better power efficiency, making it ideal for mobile platforms, thin clients or low cost computers. With the Cyrix III - later renamed the C3 - VIA reduced the performance gap by increasing the cache size and clock speeds.
The replacement processors
The C3's replacement, the C7, scales up to 2GHz, with a TDP of a mere 20W and measures just 21mm2. Measured on a performance per watt basis, the C7 is the most efficient CPU on the market. Hardware features not present in Intel or AMD's offerings can be very useful, such as hardware-based random number generating and RSA encryption.
VIA offers processors within the embedded marketplace built around specific features. The Eden processor line, for instance, offers a thermal output of just 7.5W, negating the need for a fan, while the CoreFusion puts both Northbridge and CPU into the same package.
