Update: Intel Sues Via Over P4X266 Chipset

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Update: Via Officially Launches P4X266 Chipset

August 15, 2001
By: Mark Hachman

Via Technologies Inc. officially began volume shipments of the P4X266 chipset Wednesday morning, likely setting the stage for another legal fight between itself and Intel Corp.

The chipset is important for the Taiwan manufacturer because it marries the Pentium 4 bus with cheaper PC266 double-data-rate DRAM. Silicon Integrated Systems Inc. has already announced a similar SIS645 chipset; the launch of Intel's own Intel 845 chipset is expected in mid-September.

However, Via apparently still lacks a license to use the Pentium 4 microprocessor bus technology jealously guarded by Intel and included in the P4X266. Via's legal defense appears to be in the use of S3 Graphics, a joint venture between Via itself and S3--now renamed Sonicblue Inc.--as a manufacturing partner.

Officials from Via did not respond to a emailed request for comment by press time. However, Reuters reported that the company was still in discussions with Intel regarding a bus license, although the company's position was that it was not breaking any laws.

Wednesday morning, a spokesman for Intel Corp. confirmed that Via did not have a license to manufacture a Pentium 4-compatible chipset. However, he added that Intel had not seen a final version of the P4X266, and he declined to comment beyond that, including on the possibility of any legal action.

Given the history between the two companies, however, an Intel lawsuit against Via would be unsurprising. Via's apparent defense seems to be in its partnership with S3 Graphics, part of a tangled, fascinating chain of legalese that all began with a PowerPC clone.

On May 27, 1997, Exponential Technology closed up shop, the failed designer of a PowerPC clone that a year earlier was over twice as fast as Intel's Pentium Pro chip. When the company went out of business, Exponential put its patents up for auction. Intel, seeing an opportunity, jumped in.

But S3 Inc., for an unknown reason, outbid Intel and plucked the patents from Exponential for an estimated $10 million to $12 million in September 1997. In December 1998, Intel and S3 entered into a ten-year patent agreement in December 1998, trading the Exponential processor patents and other intellectual property to Intel for access to the Pentium II bus for use in future chipsets. The cross-license explicitly stated that S3 could not manufacture an X86-compatible microprocessor, only chipsets.

Separately, Via and S3 formed a joint venture, S3-Via Inc., to explore pairing an S3 graphics core with Via's core logic and manufacture low-cost, integrated chipsets. At about that time, Via had fought and then settled its first legal battle with Intel, over the allegedly illegal manufacture of Pentium III chipsets and X86-compatile microprocessors it obtained from Cyrix Corp.

As S3 lost ground in the PC graphics market, however, S3 decided to withdraw from its core business and start over. In April 2000, it agreed to transfer its graphics assets to S3-Via Inc., ceding majority control of the venture to Via. The two companies renegotiated the agreement to satisfy the Taiwan government, although the respective stakes of S3 and Via in the joint venture was never fully disclosed. Recently, the joint venture was renamed S3 Graphics Inc. and S3 was reborn as Sonicblue, a manufacturer of Internet appliances.

The key argument, apparently, is S3's cross-license with Intel. If the ten-year license included future bus technology, and if that technology legally shifted to the S3 Graphics Inc. joint venture, then Via might be legally permitted to manufacture the P4X266 chipset. However, S3 Graphics Inc. is an intellectual property holding company, without any manufacturing facilities itself.

Intel has reportedly indicated that it will sue Via if it feels the company has manufactured an illegal, unlicensed product.

The chipset itself performed well in ExtremeTech testing, edging out the Intel 850--which uses higher-performance, more expensive Directr Rambus memory--in some tests.

The P4X266 supports up to 4 Gbytes of PC266 memory. The chipset also features a 4X AGP bus, an ATA-100 storage interface, and includes Via's proprietary 266-Mbyte/s V-Link bus that connects the north and south bridges of the chipset. The VIA Apollo P4X266 supports a choice of either the existing 423-pin and the forthcoming 478-pin "Northwood" version of the Pentium 4 processor.

Intel is really in a bind here. The only Intel chipset for the P4 is Rambus based. Intel chose that memory scheme a few years ago and its a bust.

Intel's SDRAM chipset is almost ready, but its performance is not up to par with DDR SDRAM. Intel's DDR chipset is 3-6 months away. So therefore the lawsuit. If you can't beat em sue em.

If you want a hot box buy an AMD processor with DDR memory, or wait 6 months to get an Intel box with DDR.

Good comments and I am thinking about upgrading!

I built a computer with an AMD processor, Via 266 chipset and DDR memory last May. I'm happy with it. Intel didn't have anything to compare.

If you want a hot box buy an AMD processor with DDR memory

You got that right!!!

Just how does AMD chips get that hot??? Are they built with Bunsen Burners??? LOL!!

Actually, they run SO HOT that no one takes cooling for granted, like some PC Intel type Box Makers tend to do.

Gets 'em into trouble, and has spauned a micro industry in after market cooling solutions, Like 2CoolPC's internal channel blowers that take only 4 watts, but keep the Reynolds Number so high it guarantees turbulent flow in the case and all but eliminates hot spots. Or like the Peltier Solid State Refrigerator Chips that the three Radio Shack DOT Com stores in Phoenix, Denver, and Atlanta sell.

Just how does AMD chips get that hot???

Because they outperform Pentiums. If Pentiums ran as fast as Athlons, they'd get hot too.