VIA Nano explained

VIA Nano
Size-From:40 nm
Size-To:65 nm
Fsb-Slowest:533
Fsb-Slow-Unit:MHz
Fsb-Fastest:1066
Fsb-Fast-Unit:MHz
L1cache:64 KiB instruction + 64 KiB data per core
L2cache:1 MiB per core
Soldby:VIA Technologies
Designfirm:Centaur Technology
Manuf1:Fujitsu
Manuf2:TSMC
Core1:Isaiah (CN)
Pack1:Ball grid array (soldered)
Arch:IA-32, x86-64
Microarch:VIA Isaiah
Numcores:1, 2, 4
Predecessor:VIA C7

The VIA Nano (formerly code-named VIA Isaiah) is a 64-bit CPU for personal computers. The VIA Nano was released by VIA Technologies in 2008 after five years of development[1] by its CPU division, Centaur Technology. This new Isaiah 64-bit architecture was designed from scratch, unveiled on 24 January 2008,[2] [3] [4] [5] and launched on 29 May, including low-voltage variants and the Nano brand name.[6] The processor supports a number of VIA-specific x86 extensions designed to boost efficiency in low-power appliances.

History

Unlike Intel and AMD, VIA uses two distinct development code names for each of its CPU cores. In this case, the codename 'CN' was used in the United States by Centaur Technology. Biblical names are used as codes by VIA in Taiwan, and Isaiah was the choice for this particular processor and architecture. It is expected that the VIA Isaiah will be twice as fast in integer performance and four times as fast in floating-point performance as the previous-generation VIA Esther at an equivalent clock speed. Power consumption is also expected to be on par with the previous-generation VIA CPUs, with thermal design power ranging from 5 W to 25 W.[7] Being a completely new design, the Isaiah architecture was built with support for features like the x86-64 instruction set and x86 virtualization which were unavailable on its predecessors, the VIA C7 line, while retaining their encryption extensions. Several independent tests showed that the VIA Nano performs better than the single-core Intel Atom across a variety of workloads.[8] [9] [10] In a 2008 Ars Technica test, a VIA Nano gained significant performance in memory subsystem after its CPUID changed to Intel, hinting at the possibility that the benchmark software only checks the CPUID instead of the actual features supported by the CPU to choose a code path. The benchmark software used had been released before the release of VIA Nano.[11]

On November 3, 2009, VIA launched the Nano 3000 series. VIA claims that these models can offer a 20% performance boost and 20% more energy efficiency than the Nano 1000 and 2000 series.[12] Benchmarks run by VIA claim that a 1.6 GHz 3000-series Nano can outperform the ageing Intel Atom N270 by about 40–54%.[13] The 3000 series adds the SSE4 SIMD instruction set extensions, which were first introduced with 45 nm revisions of the Intel Core 2 architecture.

On November 11, 2011, VIA released the VIA Nano X2 Dual-Core Processor with their first ever dual core pico-itx mainboard. The VIA Nano X2 is built on a 40 nm process and supports the SSE4 SIMD instruction set extensions, critical to modern floating point dependent applications.[14] Via claims 30% higher performance in comparison to Intel's Atom with a 50% higher clock.[15]

The Zhaoxin joint venture processors, released from 2014, are based on the VIA Nano series.

Features

Architecture overview

See also

External links

Press

Notes and References

  1. Web site: VIA to launch new processor architecture in 1Q08. DigiTimes. 25 July 2007. subscription. 3 December 2008. https://web.archive.org/web/20081203201340/http://www.digitimes.com/news/a20070725PD206.html. live.
  2. Web site: Isaiah revealed: VIA's new low-power architecture. Ars Technica. 24 January 2008. Jon. Stokes. 23 January 2008. 27 January 2008. https://web.archive.org/web/20080127095807/http://arstechnica.com/articles/paedia/cpu/via-cpu-isaiah.ars. live.
  3. Web site: VIA's New Centaur Designed Isaiah CPU Architecture. [H]ard|OCP. 24 January 2008. Kyle. Bennett. 24 January 2008. 19 July 2011. https://web.archive.org/web/20110719091926/http://enthusiast.hardocp.com/article/2008/01/24/vias_new_centaur_designed_isaiah_cpu_architecture. dead.
  4. Web site: Via launches 64-bit architecture. LinuxDevices.com. 24 January 2008. 23 January 2008. https://archive.today/20130103173750/http://www.linuxfordevices.com/c/a/News/Via-launches-64bit-architecture/. 2013-01-03. dead.
  5. Web site: A look at VIA's next-gen Isaiah x86 CPU architecture. The Tech Report. 24 January 2008. Scott. Wasson. 24 January 2008. 26 January 2008. https://web.archive.org/web/20080126232521/http://techreport.com/articles.x/13996. live.
  6. VIA Launches VIA Nano Processor Family. VIA. 29 May 2008. 29 May 2008. 3 February 2019. https://web.archive.org/web/20190203072901/https://www.viatech.com/en/2008/05/via-launches-via-nano-processor-family/. live.
  7. Web site: VIA. VIA Isaiah Architecture Introduction. 28 May 2008. 23 January 2008. https://web.archive.org/web/20110614013537/http://www.via.com.tw/en/downloads/presentations/processors/pb_via-isaiah_080124.pdf. 14 June 2011.
  8. Web site: Intel Atom vs. VIA Nano. [H]ard|OCP. Kyle. Bennett. 29 July 2008. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20120219032342/http://enthusiast.hardocp.com/article/2008/07/29/intel_atom_vsvia_nano. 19 February 2012.
  9. Web site: VIA Nano L2100 vs. Intel Atom 230: Head to Head. HotHardware. Marco. Chiappetta. 29 July 2008. 18 January 2009. 22 July 2011. https://web.archive.org/web/20110722075257/http://hothardware.com/Articles/VIA-Nano-L2100-vs-Intel-Atom-230-Head-to-Head/?page=7. live.
  10. News: VIA Nano and Intel Atom Review – Battle of the Tiny CPUs. Ryan. Shrout. 29 July 2008. PC Perspective. 18 January 2009. 13 January 2010. https://web.archive.org/web/20100113222026/http://pcper.com/article.php?aid=597. dead.
  11. News: Low-end grudge match: Nano vs. Atom. Ars Technica. Joel. Hruska. 29 July 2008. 15 June 2017. 20 January 2012. https://web.archive.org/web/20120120233325/http://arstechnica.com/hardware/reviews/2008/07/atom-nano-review.ars/6. live.
  12. VIA Introduces New VIA Nano 3000 Series Processors. VIA. 3 November 2009. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20130122011049/http://www.via.com.tw/en/resources/pressroom/pressrelease.jsp?press_release_no=4247. 22 January 2013.
  13. Web site: VIA Nano Processor. VIA. 2008-05-30. 2008-05-30. https://web.archive.org/web/20080530071601/http://www.via.com.tw/en/products/processors/nano/. live.
  14. Web site: VIA Releases New Nano X2 Dual-Core Processor. Tom's Hardware. 2013-10-15. 2022-01-25. https://web.archive.org/web/20220125115408/https://www.tomshardware.com/news/Nano-X2-dual-core-Isaiah-VIA-Nano-40nm-fabrication,11885.html. live.
  15. Web site: VIA Nano x2 Processor SPECfp2000 Benchmarks. VIA. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20140207105837/http://www.via.com.tw/en/products/processors/nanoX2/whitepaper.jsp. 2014-02-07.
  16. Web site: The VIA Isaiah Architecture - VIA Technologies, Inc.. https://web.archive.org/web/20130529060950/http://www.via.com.tw/en/products/processors/isaiah-arch/index.jsp. dead. 2013-05-29. 2013-05-29. 2020-04-10.