Original URL: http://www.reghardware.co.uk/2006/06/16/via_socket-479_cpu/
VIA has been very quiet recently, especially in the UK. Although it had a stand at Computex this year, there was really very little in terms of new products on display.
Then, out of nowhere, this socket-479 processor appears on a Japanese website, without any mention of it from VIA.
Admittedly, VIA seems to have been planning a socket-479 part for some time - rumours were around at CeBIT two years ago that such a part would be available.
The processor in question is based on the C7 core and is a mobile part with model number 754, which indicates that it's clocked at 1.5GHz. VIA has a range of mobile processors listed on its website (http://www.via.com.tw/en/products/processors/c7-m/c7-m.jsp), but there's no indication what interface these processors use.
According to VIA, these processors only work with the VIA VN800 chipsets, but judging from the information on Akiba (http://www.watch.impress.co.jp/akiba/hotline/20060617/etc_c7479m.html) the socket-479 works just fine on an Intel 915G platform.
Based on this information one has to wonder how different the VIA C7 bus is from that of the Intel Pentium M processors.
Apparently, the BIOS doesn't recognise the C7 processors correctly, but the system booted up into Windows without any problems.
VIA C7-M socket-479 on the right compared to an Intel Pentium M
With 64kb L1 and 128kb L2 cache, the VIA C7 is hardly a competitor for the Pentium M in terms of performance. But there's no reason why VIA couldn't eat away at Intel's entry level market share if all that is needed is a simple BIOS upgrade. ®
VIA preps UMPC-friendly chipset (7 July 2006)
http://www.reghardware.co.uk/2006/07/07/via_unveils_vx700/
VIA preps single-chip C7, Eden chipset (5 April 2006)
http://www.reghardware.co.uk/2006/04/05/via_readies_cx700_single-chip_chipset/
VIA ships C7-M ULV with Intel-like model numbers (13 March 2006)
http://www.reghardware.co.uk/2006/03/13/via_ships_c7-m_ulv/
VIA ships 90nm Eden low-power processor (17 January 2006)
http://www.reghardware.co.uk/2006/01/17/via_ships_90nm_eden/
VIA preps C7-oriented 'mini PC' chipset (8 December 2005)
http://www.reghardware.co.uk/2005/12/08/via_unveils_cn700/