VIA's low-power Nano processor kicks the Intel Atom's ass on video

The performance of its C7 chip may have been one of the crushing disappointments with the HP 2133 Mini-Note, but VIA is keen to let everyone know that its mobile processor plans don’t end there. It announced the Nano processor earlier this year (under the guise of ‘Isaiah’) and now VIA is showing off the performance of its latest low-power processor.

VIA has released a video that shows one of its OpenBook (VIA’s low-cost open source ultraportable reference design) playing 1080p HD video alongside an Asus Eee PC 1000. The 1.3GHz Nano chip in the Minibook visibly out-performs the 1.6GHz Intel Atom in the Eee PC – but this being a VIA video, it would, wouldn’t it..?

Despite being a low-power processor, the Nano isn’t really comparable to the Intel Atom. VIA designed the Nano with performance in mind, while Intel designed its Atom to be both simple and cheap to manufacture. As a result, the Nano has more in common with Intel’s Core processors and its increased architectural complexity is illustrated by its number of transistors – 94 million, compared to the Atom’s 50 million. VIA has yet to announce pricing for the Nano, so we don't know how it will compare to the Atom's rumoured $44 unit cost.

Of course there’s more to mobile processor performance than raw speed and power consumption is also a key factor. The 1.6GHz Intel Atom chip used in the current crop of netbooks has a maximum TDP of just 2.5W – the VIA Nano U2400 (which we assume to be the processor used in the video clip, based on its 1.3GHz clock speed) has a TDP of 8W. In other words, the Nano consumes over twice as much power as an Atom chip, and that will have an impact on battery life.  

So, while the Nano processor looks like a solid performer, we’re holding back on our plaudits until we see one in the flesh – or at least until VIA starts crowing about it on YouTube.

Update:  HardOCP has published an interesting performance comparison of the VIA Nano and Intel Atom in a desktop environment that puts the Nano ahead. Again though, battery life is not an factor in these tests. 

[ VIA Nano product page]

Originally published on www.mobilecomputermag.co.uk, now incorporated into Broadband Genie
© Dennis Publishing

 

 

 

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