Technical Details
Recently a new trend has begun to appear in the PC community, gone are the days of the delta screamers and the endless quest for clawing the extra few MHz from an already overstretched CPU for now is the time of the silent PC!Until recently the quest
for a silent yet still cool PC was near impossible without the aid of
watercooling or blowholes in every available orifice.
Now there is an alternative in the VIA C3 "ultra low power"
CPU, but is it the answer to all our prayers or are there sacrifices which
must be made?
Via Technologies
VIA are world renowned for there chipsets which push the boundaries of
speed and performance yet they are a relative newcomer to the CPU arena.
In June 1999 VIA bought Cyrix, and used their "Cayenne" core,
in the original "VIA Cyrix III". This chip however did not make
it to the market. This was because VIA bought Centaur who had developed
a core of their own known as "Samuel". Two more versions of
the Samuel core have since been released (Samuel 2 & Samuel 3). The
Samuel 3 also known as "Ezra" is the smallest and coolest of
the three and was the first core to be produced using the 0.13 and 0.15
micron manufacturing process.
So what does the C3 offer? Here is the official blurb from VIA
Features and Benefits Summary
| Features and Benefits Summary |
|
| Feature |
Benefits |
| Clock Speeds up to 933MHz |
Robust performance for the Internet and all the latest business, personal productivity, educational, and entertainment applications. |
| Industry leading 0.13 and 0.15 micron manufacturing processes |
Enables cool processing by minimizing power consumption and heat dissipation while maximizing processor speed. |
| 100/133MHz Front Side Bus |
Ensures efficient transfer of data between processor core and system memory, enabling fast system performance. |
| 128KB L1 and 64KB L2 Cache |
Enhances responsiveness by delivering instant access to data used most often. |
| Socket 370 pinout |
Plug-in compatible with a complete range of Socket 370 motherboards and notebooks. |
| 3DNow!™ and MMX™ Technology |
Advanced multimedia capabilities for 3D graphics and video applications. |
| Low Heat Dissipation |
Ideal for a full range of desktop and mobile solutions including fanless and enclosed designs. |
| Choice of PGA (Pin Grid Array), Micro PGA, and Enhanced BGA packages |
Flexible solutions for a complete range of desktop, mobile, server, and Digital PC appliance applications. |
| Ultra Low Power Consumption |
Saves energy costs and maximizes notebook battery life. |
An ideal Platform…
The Shuttle Computer Group has developed a series of small yet highly
versatile barebones systems for Intel Socket 370, AMD Socket A and Intel
P4 systems. The earliest of which is the Shuttle SV24 (Review
Here) which uses Shuttles acclaimed flexATX FV24 mainboard. Featuring
no less than 2 Firewire ports, 4 USB ports, TV and s-video out ports and
a 10/100 LAN port making it the most bang for buck motherboard available
anywhere.
But all of that integration comes at a price….There is virtually zero airflow through the case which is smaller than a shoebox presenting a serious problems for hot running chips.
In steps VIA sporting its
super cool C3 offering an answer to our problems but at what cost and
are the advantages that the C3 offers really worth it??
Let's find out……
