VIA ESP 7000 Sports Big Features, Low Power

Priced at only $150, the x86, all-in-one ESP 7000 is finding its way into entertainment and communication devices. The chip has no fan and uses little power, so it's ideal for electronic systems designed for low noise output and power usage.

Running at 733MHz, the ESP 7000 processor comes packed with advanced performance features such as StepAhead Advanced Branch Prediction, 16 pipeline stages, support for SSE multimedia instructions, a full-speed Floating Point Unit (FPU) and an efficiency-enhanced 64-Kbyte full-speed exclusive Level 2 cache with 16-way associativity for memory optimization. The chip is also based on the Via CoolStream architecture of the Nehemiah processor core.

According to Via executives, the ESP 7000 consumes a mere 6 watts of maximum thermal design power and nearly 1 watt of typical power when running at a clock speed of 733MHz. Measuring only 1.5mm high, the processor is ideal for highly compact systems.

With the ESP 7000,which ships on an Eden motherboard featuring DDR266 SDRAM support, an array of capabilities and a small, chic look,Via is targeting a new breed of fanless multifunctional devices.

The motherboard is based on the Via CLE226 chipset and features two integrated USB 2.0 ports, two integrated ATA100 connections, a floppy-drive connection, a parallel port, a serial port and on-board Vinyl audio integrated 5.1 surround sound, as well as an integrated MPEG-2 decoder and 10/100 LAN.

The motherboard version that was reviewed ships with a Digital Video Interface (DVI) port. No VGA port is available, although the motherboard ships with a DVI-to-VGA connector. Just the notion of having a DVI port rather than a VGA port supports the claim that the ESP 7000 is sufficiently high-end to fit into many different entertainment scenarios while running at high performance.

Once the motherboard was secured in a chassis, CRN Test Center engineers populated it with all the components needed to get the system up and running. With such a highly integrated design, installation went without a hitch.

Test Center engineers were interested in seeing how the ESP 7000 measured up against AMD's 900MHz Athlon, so they used PassMark.com, a software benchmark tool that allows all the major subsystems of a computer to be simultaneously tested for reliability and stability.

On this benchmark, the ESP 7000 received a score of 220.2, compared with the Athlon's 244.6.

The PassMark rating, a weighted average of all the other test results, provides a single score for a computer's performance. The higher the number, the faster the computer. The weightings are based on average computer usage and are intended to provide an overall indication of how the computer will perform in general use. That weighted average, however, will be inappropriate for some users. Game players, for example, often consider 3-D viewing to be more important, while network administrators will be looking more carefully at disk speed.

But based on the scores the ESP 7000 received, its feature set and, most notably, the chip's price, CRN's Test Center engineers recommend Via's processor.

CHANNEL PROGRAM SNAPSHOTS
>VIA TECHNOLOGIES EDEN ESP 7000
PRICE: $150
WARRANTY: 3 years
DISTRIBUTORS: Direct from vendor
TECH RATING:

CHANNEL RATING:

CHANNEL OVERVIEW: Fremont, Calif.-based Via Technologies tailors its support and products to the specific needs of individual partners and targeted verticals. The vendor provides software and hardware technical support and customizes its motherboards to meet specific partner needs. Joint sales calls, seminar assistance and marketing support are available, and Via provides technical forums, white papers, technical assistance and technical resources online. Via also provides frequent product training and road maps.

Note: Vendors can earn up to five stars for technical merit and five for their channel program. If the average of these two scores is four stars or greater, the product earns CRN Test Center Recommended status.