Series of global press events showcase VIA K8T890 Series powered motherboards and systems from world’s leading vendors, including live demo of new VIA DualGFX Express technology

Taipei, Taiwan, November 17 2004, - VIA Technologies, Inc, a leading innovator and developer of silicon chip technologies and PC platform solutions, today announced broad industry support for VIA K8T890 Series chipsets from the world’s leading motherboard manufacturers and system integrators, helping drive the adoption of high-speed PCI Express™ architecture on the 32- and 64-bit compatible AMD64 processor platform.

At a series of global press days, VIA, AMD and key industry partners will showcase an array of cutting edge gaming PCs and multimedia devices featuring the advanced architecture of VIA K8T890 Series chipsets and the unparalleled processing power of AMD64 processors. VIA industry partners demonstrating products include ASUS, Gigabyte, MSI, ABIT, Soltek, Albatron and Shuttle, as well leading system integrators such as Fujitsu Siemens.

VIA will also unveil the forthcoming K8T890 Pro chipset with VIA DualGFX Express, a solution which makes dual graphics card configurations more viable for a wider market. The K8T890 Pro chipset will be demonstrated in a high performance workstation with dual graphics cards and support for up to four monitors, enabling enhanced multitasking without compromising system performance.

“The broad array of VIA K8T890 Series chipset powered products on show from our partners clearly demonstrates that PCI Express has well and truly arrived on the AMD64 platform,” commented Chewei Lin, Vice President of Product Marketing, VIA Technologies Inc. “VIA remains committed to driving the growth of 64-bit computing on the AMD64 platform, and will continue to introduce innovative new technologies, as we have done with the advanced VIA Flex Express Architecture and features such as VIA DualGFX Express.”

“We have been working closely with VIA to bring PCI Express connectivity to the AMD64 platform,” said Daryl Sartain, director, Desktop Business Segment, AMD’s Microprocessor Business Unit, CPG. “Along with VIA, we are excited to show off the latest complements to the AMD Athlon™ 64 processor, which offers our customers an incredibly powerful platform for extreme performance.”

“The advanced Flex Express Architecture of VIA K8T890 Series chipsets, combined with ASUS’ unique AI Proactive features and user-centric designs, creates the best platform to drive the adoption of PCI Express on the AMD64 platform,” commented by Joy Hsieh, Associate Vice President of ASUS Motherboard Business Dept.. “The VIA K8T890 chipset powered ASUS A8V-E Deluxe motherboard works seamlessly with the latest PCI Express graphics cards and peripherals to enable a new generation of leading performance PCs that deliver an unparalleled 3D gaming and multimedia experience”.

VIA K8T890 Series press events will be taking place in the following cities during November and December 2004: Munich, Paris, London, Moscow, Milan, Beijing, Mumbai and Delhi.

About VIA K8T890 Series Chipsets

Optimized for a complete range of AMD Athlon 64 FX, AMD Athlon 64, AMD Sempron™ and AMD Opteron™ processors, VIA K8T890 Series chipsets feature the unique VIA Flex Express Architecture to allow the industry’s most flexible implementations of PCI Express devices. Multiple device configurations can be implemented, with support for up to five PCI Express devices directly into the chipset North Bridge and a total of 20 PCI Express lanes for a combined bandwidth of 5GB/s.

VIA K8T890 Series chipsets include support for the latest PCI Express x16 graphics cards, and up to four PCI Express x1 connections to high speed PCI Express peripherals, such as Gigabit Ethernet and bandwidth hungry HDTV tuner cards. The VIA K8T890 Pro chipset features VIA DualGFX Express, a solution that stands ready to support all dual graphics card industry standards. VIA DualGFX Express can provide enhanced single application performance with supporting graphics cards and enhanced multi-monitor support for power multitasking without tying up vital system bandwidth.

VIA K8T890 Series chipsets also feature an asynchronous bus architecture, providing improved system optimization options to enable power users to squeeze the very most out of their systems.

In combination with the market-leading VIA VT8237 South Bridge and a broad array of VIA companion chips, the VIA K8T890 chipset provides the most comprehensive range of storage, multimedia and connectivity features available for the AMD64 processor platform today, including native Serial ATA and V-RAID, 6-channel or 8-channel VIA Vinyl audio, USB2.0, and 1394.

VIA K8T890 Series chipsets are shipping to motherboard manufacturers and system integrators now, with first products expected to available in November 2004. For further information about VIA K8T890 Series chipsets please visit the VIA website at: http://www.via.com.tw/en/products/chipsets/k8-series/k8t890/.