VIA updates the Nano
3000 series is an optimized 2000
by Charlie Demerjian
November 3, 2009
VIA ANNOUNCED its 3000 series x86 CPUs today, based on the older 1000 and 2000 series Nano cores. As you would expect, the new cores promise greater performance for less power than their predecessors.
There are six new Nano CPUs ranging from 1.0GHz to 2.0GHz, all single cores, and all based off the new CNb core. When the 1000 and 2000 series parts came out, they used the CN core, now known as CNa. Once that core was out the door, work began on the revision, and that revision is now sampling as the 3000 series using the CNb core.
Via's new CPU lineup
The new 3000 series chips are said to offer 20% higher performance per clock while using less power than their predecessors. In addition to the performance per watt optimizations, the boys from the Austin suburbs added SSE4, 4.1 and 4.2 instructions and support for hardware VM acceleration. Even better, the new parts are pin compatible with not only the older CN's, but also C7 and C7-M parts. The new Nano's should be a plug-in replacement for any of the older Via parts.
An updated block diagram of the 3000
If you think of the new parts as optimized versions of the older ones with a few new instructions, you get the idea. There is a rumored dual core version in the wings that will be based on the CNb core, so hopefully we will see that in the near future as well. VIA has an interesting niche to fill between the Atom and Core Number Numeral iOddNumberThisWeek. Lets hope it can exploit that.S|A
File under Microprocessors and Mobile and Graphics and Channel and Desktop and Efficiency
