S3-Via Deal to Integrate Graphics, Logic

Electronic News, April 12, 1999 by Robert Ristelhueber

Will compete with Intel's offering

Santa Clara, Calif.-The merger of graphics and core logic got a boost last week with an agreement by S3 Inc. and Via Technologies to collaborate on a family of chips aimed at mainstream and low-end personal computers.

The first product expected from the team will combine S3's Savage4 graphics engine with Via's Apollo Pro core logic. The companies hope to reduce three components - north bridge, graphics controller and frame buffer - to a single chip.

The proposed product, expected to be ready by the second half of this year, will support microprocessors from both Intel and Advanced Micro Devices. It would compete with Intel's upcoming Whitney chip, recently named the 810, which will work with the Celeron processor. Both S3 and Taiwan-based Via will market the product.

S3 discussed a collaboration with all the leading chipset vendors before signing with Via, said Andrew Wolfe, chief technical officer of S3. "Chipset technology is moving very rapidly, and Via was the only one being aggressive with new technology. They looked like the right partner for us because we had a very synergistic business model, including getting the product out at an aggressive price point."

There are many advantages to combining the graphics function with the core logic. "Because it allows us to effectively use system memory, it can remove as much as nine chips" from a system, Wolfe said. Frame buffers, which frequently include 32 megabytes of memory, can be eliminated or sharply reduced using an integrated design, he claimed. Since the chip is closer to the system memory and processor bus, it also removes bottlenecks and improves the speed of the system, he added.

"The addition of a high-performance 3D engine expands our integrated chipset range to meet every segment of the mainstream PC market top to bottom," said Wen Chi Chen, president and chief executive of Via, in a prepared statement.

Even though the planned chipset would compete with Intel's, it's likely that Intel welcomes the collaboration, said Tony Massimini, chief of technology for Semico Research, Phoenix. "It's certainly in Intel's interests to have another player in there" in order to stimulate the market for microprocessors, he noted. Intel and S3 signed a 10-year cross-license patent agreement last December under which Intel will purchase warrants to buy S3 shares under disclosed terms.