Via debuts power conscious quad-core x86 chip

Via has debuted a power conscious 40nm quad-core x86 processor targeted at the mainstream PC and notebook market.

“With a TDP (Thermal Design Power) of only 27.5 watts, the 1.2+ GHz VIA QuadCore processor is 21% more energy efficient than the nearest competitor and ideal for a wide range of desktop PC, notebook, small form factor PC, all-in-one PC, and mini-server system design applications,” said Via exec Epan Wu.

“[Due to] high definition multimedia content and increasingly demanding multithreaded applications, [we believe] a four core processor is the new baseline for today’s mainstream PC user.”

According to Wu, Via quad-core processors combine four “Isaiah” cores on two dies, offering enhanced multi-tasking and superb multimedia performance on a low-power budget.

Initially available at a speed of 1.2+GHz, the processors are natively 64-bit compatible and boast a number of performance enhancing features, including adaptive overclocking, 4MB L2 cache and 1333MHz V4 Bus.

Additional features include:

  • 
Hardware virtualization support
  • PadLock & Advanced Cryptography Engine
  • Efficient floating point unit (2 clock SP multiplies)
  • Advanced power and thermal management
  • Secure Hash Algorithm: SHA-1, SHA-256, SHA-384, SHA-512
  • Pin-to-pin compatibility with VIA processor range

     

 Via’s quad-core processors will be on display at Computex 2011 and are slated to (volume) ship in Q3 2011.