14 DAY TRIAL // Graphics expert Nvidia will reportedly be producing graphic chipsets for VIA's current and upcoming processors, including the 64-bit Isaiah chip, slated to be released soon. Sources close to the processor manufacturer claimed that agreement between the two parts was inked a while ago, but the event was misreported as a buyout attempt.
It is true that VIA has its own low-end graphics business called S3 graphics, but its own graphics cores cannot match the performance delivered by Nvidia's high-end graphics chips. As previously reported, Via shut down its chipset business earlier this year, because it could not find a suitable market anymore.
Intel and AMD both have their chipset divisions that are able to deliver high-performance chips, while Nvidia has been slowly invading the market sector uncovered by the two CPU manufacturers. The advent of the SLI and CrossFire technologies, paired with the company's financial instability also pushed Via into calling it quits on the chipset market.
The deal struck with Nvidia will open new market opportunities for VIA and would allow it to take advantage of cutting-edge graphics products manufactured by the graphics specialist. It will also allow VIA to gear up in the battle between its Isaiah chip and the upcoming low-voltage Intel Atom processor.
The new technological partnership, however, will not result in Via completely terminating its own chipset business. According to the same sources, Via will continue to manufacture chipsets for its own processors, as they are the core of Via's platform miniaturization strategy. At the moment, most of the company's revenue is brought by its mini-computing systems targeted at the portable market, such as the Pico-ITX motherboard.
Both Via and Nvidia did not provide additional information on the deal, following the companies policy that prevents them to comment on unannounced events.