It's a known fact that Via hasn't exactly released any high performance motherboard since maybe KT880 times. But that didn't stop them from trying. At least they had the magnificent idea of claiming that they will only produce value oriented chipsets. And that says it all. You don't buy a Via based motherboard when you're thinking of overclocking your PC; you buy it because you'll end up saving money.

Things recently took an interesting turn when AMD decided to buy Ati. Reading between the lines you'll soon figure out that Ati will no longer produce chipsets for INTEL, leaving Via with enough space to develop new products and release them into the hungry market. And recent updates on the KT/PT 890 chipset come to prove just that. Via is back and will continue to produce motherboards compatible with INTEL CPUs.

On the other hand, future AMD line coming from Via will have to hold its grounds against increasing pressure coming from AMD's Ati line of motherboards. And if you take into account the fact that Via's latest chipset (KT890) doesn't even support SATA II you'll understand that this is no easy job for them.

You could say that Via has another chance to prove that it can make quality motherboards for INTEL. I'd say not to hurry at least until Via will acquire the license for 1333MHz FSB quad pumped bus.