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39-614: In 2004 after the S3 Graphics company spun off their joint-venture with VIA , VIA attempted to re-launch the S3 Graphics brand with a new line of video cards under the name 'Chrome'. The Chrome range featured low power requirements and high-definition output making it attractive for small form factor scenarios and OEM systems. Unfortunately by the time Chrome released, the rapid progression of 3D gaming performance between rivals NVIDIA and ATI Technologies made S3's offerings uncompetitive in

78-506: A 128-bit 3D graphics core providing DirectX 7 hardware support but without a Transform & Lightning (T&L) unit . UniChrome Pro II further adds support for hardware rotation. UniChrome Pro is implemented in the VIA chipsets : K8M800(A) / K8N800(A), P4M800 Pro / P4M800 CE / VN800 / CN700, PM800 / PM880 / PN800 / PN880 / CN400, P4M890 / P4N890 / CN800; UniChrome Pro II is implemented in the VIA chipsets : CX700(M / M2) and VX700(M / M2). Chrome9

117-590: A fabless semiconductor company called Zhaoxin . The joint venture is producing x86 compatible CPUs for the Chinese market. In November 2021, Intel recruited some of the employees of the Centaur Technology division from VIA, a deal worth $ 125 million, and effectively acquiring the talent and knowhow of the x86 division. VIA retained the x86 licence and associated patents, and its Zhaoxin CPU joint-venture continues. By

156-801: A part of VIA Technologies' VX11/H Media System Processor 4 (MSP4) and support Blu-ray Decoding (VX11H with HDPC only). Zhaoxin KX-5000 (ZX-D) series contains Chrome 860 (ZX C-860) engine for their integrated graphics, mostly unchanged from Chrome 645 / 640. Zhaoxin KX-6000 (ZX-E) series contains Chrome 960 (ZX C-960) engine for their integrated graphics. Added support for 4K resolution. Zhaoxin KX-6000G series contains Chrome 1080 (ZX C-1080) engine for their integrated graphics. Zhaoxin KX-7000 series contains Chrome 1190 (ZX C-1190) engine for their integrated graphics. UniChrome

195-481: A revamped 2D engine called M1 engine with hardware rotation support. The Chrome9 IGP (Integrated Graphics Processor) VIA chipsets family consists of: K8M890 / K8N890 chipsets (Chrome9), P4M900, VN896, and CN896 chipsets (Chrome9 HC), VX800 chipset (Chrome9 HC3), VX855 chipset (Chrome9 HCM), VX900 chipset (Chrome9 HD) with FullHD support. Chronological order VIA Technologies VIA Technologies, Inc. ( Chinese : 威盛電子 ; pinyin : Wēishèng Diànzǐ )

234-509: A system to increase graphics performance, similar to ATI CrossFire and NVIDIA's SLI . Unreleased - the first of the 'Chrome' product line, previously titled Savage XP and codenamed Zoetrope. DeltaChrome added support for Shader Model 2.0, making it S3 Graphics' first released DirectX 9 product. Other features included the introduction of the Chromotion Video Engine, and dual 400 MHz DACs for multi monitor support. OmniChrome

273-565: A x86 license which allows its subsidiaries to produce compatible microprocessors; this allows Zhaoxin to develop x86 computer chips. The architecture of the initial ZX family of processors is a continuation of VIA 's Centaur Technology x86-64 Isaiah design. The ZX-A and ZX-B are based on the VIA Nano X2 C4350AL. The ZX-B is identical to the ZX-A, except that it is manufactured by Shanghai Huali Microelectronics Corporation (HLMC) . The ZX-C

312-399: Is a Taiwanese manufacturer of integrated circuits , mainly motherboard chipsets , CPUs , and memory . It was the world's largest independent manufacturer of motherboard chipsets. As a fabless semiconductor company , VIA conducts research and development of its chipsets in-house, then subcontracts the actual ( silicon ) manufacturing to third-party merchant foundries such as TSMC . VIA

351-812: Is a mobile line for the Chrome 400. 430 ULP includes features in 430 GT, while 435 ULP and 440 ULP includes features in 440 GTX. This product was released on 2008-09-24. It is the embedded version of S3 Graphics Chrome 430. It supports features found in Chrome 400 and later products. Using GDDR2 memory, it runs up to 300 MHz core speed, 500 MHz memory; in a GDDR3 setup, it runs up to 650 MHz core speed, 900 MHz memory. Display unit includes 2 dual-link DVI transmitters with integrated HDMI (with audio controller) and HDCP, an integrated LVDS transmitter, and support for 2 analog CRTs. Chrome 500 series includes integrated DisplayPort support, audio controller and an AES 128 encryption engine. The display unit loses 1 CRT and

390-411: Is a video card with DeltaChrome S4 Pro processor, Philips 1216/1236 TV tuner, Techwell video decoder. GammaChrome is the first native PCI Express product line by S3 Graphics. It was originally announced on 2004-3-18 [1] , but the product was not released until 2005-3-9. [2] Marketed as 3rd generation DirectX 9 products competing against GeForce 6600 and Radeon X600, there is little change between it and

429-493: Is also the parent company of VIA Labs Inc. (VLI, Chinese : 威鋒電子 ). As an independently traded subsidiary , VLI develops and markets USB 3 , USB 4 , USB Type-C , and USB PD controllers for computer peripherals and mobile devices. The company was founded in 1987, in Fremont, California , USA by Cher Wang . In 1992, it was decided to move the headquarters to Taipei , Taiwan in order to establish closer partnerships with

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468-529: Is an internally developed graphics engine called Halcyon (codename) used in VIA's integrated graphics chipsets . UniChrome is implemented in the VIA chipsets : CLE266, KM400(A) / KN400(A), and P4M800 (non-CE revision). The UniChrome Pro Series consists of the UniChrome Pro and UniChrome Pro II . The UniChrome Pro is an update to UniChrome with an improved video-engine called Chromotion (MPEG2 decoder, adaptive De-Interlacing and video deblocking). It contains

507-641: Is based on the VIA QuadCore-E & Eden X4. Zhaoxin calls this architecture "Zhangjiang", however, it is thought that the basis is the VIA Isaiah 2 architecture. Like the VIA processors they were based on, early ZX processors were ball grid array chips sold pre-soldered onto a motherboard. Zhaoxin came to the attention of the North American and European technology press when, in late 2017 and early 2018, it launched

546-583: Is reported to have a 50% performance increase over the KX-5000, and comparable performance to a 7th generation Intel i5 core processor from 2016 (namely the Core i5-7400). The 8-core ZX-E U6780A was reviewed by Linus Tech Tips in August 2020. The review processor was benchmarked to be slightly slower than a 3rd generation Intel i5 quad-core processor (originally released in 2012–2013) using Cinebench . Gaming performance

585-542: Is the first S3 Graphics derived graphics engine, since ProSavage8 DDR back in early 2000s, to be integrated into VIA Technologies chipset. The integrated graphics core is based on Chrome 500 series. Chrome 520 is the only known variant. VIA Technologies' VN1000 chipset contains this graphics engine. Very few units were actually sold. This version is the first integrated graphics core based on the DirectX 11 cores. Known variants include Chrome 640 and Chrome 645, These newer IGPs are

624-616: The GNU Compiler Collection . The successor to the KX-6000, the ZX-F or KX-7000 processor series, was initially planned for release in 2021. The KX-7000 chip was reported to be planned for release on a 7 nm process with DDR5 support. An alleged benchmark result for a ZX-F appeared on GeekBench in 2020. The KX-7000 was finally released in December 2023, two years late. According to test results reported by Tom's Hardware, this processor

663-495: The S3 Graphics joint venture. In January 2005, VIA began the VIA pc-1 Initiative , to develop information and communication technology systems to benefit those with no access to computers or Internet. In February 2005, VIA celebrated production of the 100 millionth VIA AMD chipset. On 29 August 2008, VIA announced that they would release official 2D accelerated Linux drivers for their chipsets, and would also release 3D accelerated drivers. In July 2008, VIA Labs, Inc. (VLI)

702-604: The Zhaoxin joint venture. Many of the CPUs are BGA chips sold pre-soldered onto a motherboard. Some of the VIA x86 processors also contain an undocumented Alternate Instruction Set . By 1996, VIA established itself as an important supplier of PC components with its chipsets for Socket 7 platform. With the Apollo VP3 chipset in 1997 VIA pioneered AGP support for Socket 7 processors. VIA's market position between 1998 and 2000 derived from

741-529: The Chinese market: the venture is an attempt to reduce the Chinese dependence on foreign technology. Zhaoxin is a joint venture between VIA Technologies and the Shanghai Municipal Government. In 2021 it was reported that VIA has a 14.75% shareholding in the company. China has a domestic policy to "replace all foreign hardware and software from its public infrastructure with homegrown solutions" by 2023 (the so-called 3–5–2 policy). VIA holds

780-525: The TV encoder over Chrome 400. The audio controller supports Dolby 7.1 digital surround sound. The first product, Chrome 530 GT, was released on 2008-11-20. The second product, Chrome 540 GTX was officially released on 2009-02-12 even though the product was on sale on the Gstore since 2009-02-07. It featured a displayport and a full-sized PCB; a feature uncommon amongst more modern S3 Graphics Chrome cards. This version

819-452: The ZX-D processor and revealed plans for future products. Zhaoxin calls the ZX-D architecture " Wudaokou "; this is a complete re-design of the VIA Isaiah. It is also a departure from earlier microarchitectures, such as ZhangJiang, which were a lightly modified version of a VIA Technologies (Centaur) architecture. WuDaoKou was a new and complete SoC design. Changes implemented in the ZX-D included

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858-496: The ZX-D, the KX-6000 system on a chip (also called ZX-E), was demonstrated to the press in September 2018. The architecture, an evolution of the ZX-D architecture, was called " Lujiazui ". The KX-6000 was formally launched in 2019. In June 2019 the KX-6000 was reported to being built on a 16 nm TSMC process. The chip has a DirectX 11.1 compatible iGPU. In 2022, Zhaoxin was noted to have added ZX-E specific compiler support for

897-699: The ailing S3 Graphics business in 2001. While the S3 Savage chipset was not fast enough to survive as a discrete graphics product, its low manufacturing cost made it an ideal for integration with the VIA northbridge . At the time under VIA, the S3 brand generally held about 10% share of the PC graphics market, behind Intel and Nvidia . VIA also included the VIA Envy soundcard on its motherboards, which offered 24-bit sound. While its Pentium 4 chipset designs struggled to win market share in

936-542: The basis of the Integrated Device Technology Centaur Technology acquisition, VIA appeared to have come into possession of at least three patents, which covered key aspects of processor technology used by Intel. On the basis of the negotiating leverage these patents offered, in 2003 VIA arrived at an agreement with Intel that allowed for a ten-year patent cross license, enabling VIA to continue to design and manufacture x86 compatible CPUs. VIA

975-1020: The face of legal threats from Intel, the K8T800 chipset for the Athlon 64 was popular. From 2004 to 2012, VIA continued the development of its VIA C3 and VIA C7 as well as other x86 and x86-64 compatible processors, targeting small, light, low power applications, a market space in which VIA continues to be successful. For example, in January 2008, VIA unveiled the VIA Nano , an 11 mm × 11 mm footprint VM-enabled x86-64 processor, which debuted in May 2008, for ultra-mobile PCs . By 2013 with its Zhaoxin joint-venture, VIA continued to create x86-64 compatible CPU designs derived from their 1999 purchase of Centaur Technologies and integrated-graphics systems, owing to VIA's earlier relationship and eventual 2001 purchase of S3 Graphics. On

1014-542: The integration of a northbridge , like in modern x86 designs, as well as the addition of Chinese cryptographic functions. The ZX-D series also had an integrated graphics processing unit (iGPU) based on S3 Graphics technology (previously owned by VIA). The former ZX naming was dropped around 2018 in favour of the KX ("KaiXian") designation for desktop processors and the KH ("KaisHeng") designation for server processors. The successor to

1053-515: The late 1990s, VIA began diversifying its core-logic business, and the company made business acquisitions forming a CPU division, graphics division, and a sound division. As advances in silicon manufacturing continue to increase the level of integration and functionality in chipsets, VIA acquired these divisions at the time to remain competitive in the core-logic market. VIA has produced multiple x86 compatible CPUs , through its acquisitions of Cyrix and Centaur Technology . VIA produces CPUs through

1092-598: The lucrative high end consumer market. The Chrome series supports Direct3D 9 with full pixel shader 2.0 support, excluding the unreleased Savage XP/AlphaChrome and early UniChrome. Later GPUs in the series offer Direct3D 10, 10.1, and 11 support, depending on the GPU. S3's AcceleRAM technology allowed system RAM to be used to supplement the video card's RAM, and is similar to ATI's HyperMemory and NVIDIA 's TurboCache . Chrome also introduced MultiChrome technology, allowing multiple matched Chrome cards to be used simultaneously in

1131-412: The mid-1990s, VIA's business focused on integrated chipsets for the PC market. Among PC users then, VIA was best known for its motherboard (core-logic) chipsets. However, VIA's products include audio controllers, network/connectivity controllers, low-power CPUs, and even CD/DVD-writer chipsets. PC and peripheral vendors such as ASUS then bought the chipsets for inclusion into their own product brands. In

1170-405: The previous generation of product, except for the updated Chromotion 2.0 engine. Review of the product showed it was comparable to the contemporary competitors at the market segment [3] , but it was never able to gain a significant market share. S3 Graphics originally planned GammaChrome S19 on its roadmap, but it was cancelled. Model listing Chronological order This generation of S3 Chrome

1209-649: The substantial and growing IT manufacturing base in Taiwan and neighbouring China. In 1999, VIA acquired most of Cyrix , then a division of National Semiconductor . That same year, VIA acquired Centaur Technology from Integrated Device Technology , marking its entry into the x86 microprocessor market. VIA is the maker of the VIA C3 , VIA C7 & VIA Nano processors, and the EPIA platform. The Cyrix MediaGX platform remained with National Semiconductor. In 2001, VIA established

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1248-447: The success of its Pentium III chipsets. Around 2001 Intel discontinued the development of its SDRAM chipsets, and stated as policy that only RDRAM memory would be supported going forward. Since RDRAM was more expensive and offered few, if any, obvious performance advantages, manufacturers found they could ship performance-equivalent PCs at a lower cost by using VIA chipsets. In response to increasing market competition, VIA acquired

1287-502: Was VIA Technologies' attempt to pass Microsoft's Windows Vista Basic certification with their internally developed integrated graphics cores supporting DirectX 9. Known variants include Chrome9, Chrome9 HC, Chrome9 HC3, Chrome9 HCM, and Chrome9 HD; the last one supports HD video decode. The design is an evolved version of UniChrome Pro, with a revamped 3D engine supporting DirectX 9 Shader Model 2.0 / OpenGL 1.4 called Innovation (codename). Chrome9 HC3, Chrome9 HCM, and Chrome9 HD also contain

1326-755: Was also granted a three-year grace period in which it could continue to use Intel socket infrastructure. Zhaoxin Zhaoxin ( Shanghai Zhaoxin Semiconductor Co., Ltd. ; / ˈ ʒ aʊ ʃ ɪ n / , Chinese : 兆芯 ; pinyin : Zhàoxīn [ʈʂâu ɕín] ) is a fabless semiconductor company , created in 2013 as a joint venture between VIA Technologies and the Shanghai Municipal Government . The company manufactures x86 -compatible desktop and laptop CPUs . The term Zhào xīn means million core . The processors are created mainly for

1365-415: Was announced on 2005-9-7 [4] , and released on 2005-11-3. It is an embedded version of Chrome S20. It addresses 256MiB 32/64-bit GDDR2 SDRAM at maximum 500 MHz. VIA planned the production of 2 new graphics chips, Chrome 440 and 430, by the end of 2007. The Chrome 460 was to DirectX 10 and adopt a 90 nm process, while the Chrome 430 supports DirectX 10.1 and adopts a 65nm process . The Chrome 460

1404-409: Was founded as a wholly-owned subsidiary of VIA Technologies Inc. (VIA) to develop and market integrated circuits primarily for USB 3.0. VLI was intended to be a "smaller and thus more agile" company that can quickly respond to the changing market. It would later become an independently traded subsidiary in 2020. In 2013, VIA entered into an agreement with the Shanghai Municipal Government to create

1443-589: Was launched in 2017). In 2020 Zhaoxin announced it was planning to release a dedicated graphics card . Zhaoxin processors have mainly been used for Chinese laptops. The Zhaoxin ZX-C+ 4701 CPU was reviewed in 2020, and showed significantly worse performance against older Intel (i5 2500K) and AMD (Athlon 3000G) processors. The ZX-D was noted to have roughly the performance of the Intel Silvermont (Avoton) processors (which were launched in 2013). The ZX-E / KX-6000

1482-447: Was twice as fast as the KX-6000 series that came before it. The benchmark score indicated that not only had clock speeds improved substantially, but also instructions-per-clock. In comparison, the KX-7000 was deemed to be on par with similar processors made by AMD or Intel in the mid-to-late 2010s. Zhaoxin was itself reported as saying that the KX-7000 reached the same level of performance as the seventh-generation Intel Core i5-7400 (which

1521-774: Was ultimately canceled. The devices were initially manufactured by Fujitsu, but manufacturing issues at Fujitsu triggered moving the volume production to TSMC. The 430 GT was released on 2008-03-20 in US market, while 440 GTX was released in 2008-05-30. The production models are made in 65 nm process, supports DirectX 10.1, and uses PCI Express 2.0 interface. Chromotion engine now supports Variable length decoding, and dual-stream Blu-ray playback (440 GTX). Display unit includes 2 dual-link DVI transmitters with integrated HDMI (audio passthrough) and HDCP, an integrated dual channel LVDS transmitter, an integrated TV/HDTV encoder, and support for two analog CRTs. 440 GTX runs at 725 MHz core speed. It

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