VIA Nano 3000 to Fight Intel's Next Atoms

In the netbook space, Intel has a stranglehold on the low-power CPU choice with the Atom.

But it's not the only game in town. VIA since last year has offered the Nano CPU as an alternative, though it's not quite as energy miserly (but does come with more muscle).

Thus far, the Atom's been the processor of choice, but VIA today announced a new Nano that could change things. Now bumped up to the Nano 3000 Series processors, VIA's latest offering is based on the 64-bit superscalar ‘Isaiah’ architecture, which boasts flawless playback of high bit-rate 1080p HD video.

The VIA Nano 3000 also supports CPU virtualization technology, SSE4, and security capabilities integrated in the VIA PadLock Security Engine.

“With the VIA Nano 3000 Series, we are launching our fastest and most power-efficient processors yet,” commented Richard Brown, VP International Marketing, VIA Technologies, Inc. “Coupled with our market-leading digital media chipsets, they enable the richest experience across a broad range of mobile and all-in-one system designs.”

Available at speeds from 1 GHz to 2 GHz, Nano 3000 Series processors deliver up to 20 percent higher performance using up to 20 percent less power than current Nano processors.

The Nano 3000 Series processors should be easy to integrate into designs that already use the NanoBGA2 package, making them pin-to-pin compatible with a host of VIA processors, including the Nano 1000, Nano 2000, C7, C7-M and Eden.

VIA Nano 3000 Series processor samples are currently available for OEMs and motherboard vendors, and will enter mass production in Q1 2010. Hopefully we'll see some designs at CES 2010.