Via May Choose Nvidia Graphics Chipsets

Graphics chip vendor Nvidia will produce graphic chipsets designed to work with Via Technologies' processors, including its upcoming Isaiah chip, according to a source familiar with the situation.

Via has its own graphics subsidiary, S3 Graphics, but the company's products are not generally considered a match for Nvidia's top-line graphics chips. Teaming up with Nvidia gives Via access to cutting-edge graphics just as the processor vendor is gearing up to launch Isaiah, a low-power processor that will compete against Intel's Atom processor in low-cost laptops, the source said, confirming a report that first appeared on The Inquirer.

Samples of Isaiah, which Via first disclosed in detail earlier this year, are being now being shipped to customers ahead of an expected mid-year release.

Via declined to comment on the reported deal with Nvidia. An Nvidia spokesman could not be reached for comment.

Despite the deal with Nvidia, the source said Via will continue to produce its own chipsets for its microprocessors. Those chipsets are central to Via's platform strategy, which has seen the company push the limits of motherboard size, packing its processors and single-chip chipset onto ever smaller boards designed for portable computers.

Via's Pico-ITX motherboard measures just 10 centimeters by 7.2 cm, and includes Via's C7 processor and VX700 chipset.