VIA MVP4 Chipset

The key to building the sub $1000 PC turned out to be in the integration of the components that go into a computer, while the technology has been around for years allowing manufacturers to integrate sound and video onto a motherboard, the ability to do so and achieve a fairly competitive system by the standards of the day was somewhat limited. Motherboard manufacturers have taken it upon themselves to provide the component integration into their products, by including low cost 3D accelerators and cheap audio controllers on their boards, however the success of these products is reaching a maximum as there is only so much a motherboard manufacturer can do with a single chipset design.

Leave it to VIA to rescue (although not as dramatically as that) the industry once again, providing the market with a true, low-cost, highly integrated, chipset solution that would require very little modification of the current motherboard design in order to implement it. Imagine a motherboard, with on-board video, sound, and even an on-board modem controller; now imagine that all of those features were integrated into two chips, along side the normal functions of a motherboard. What you're imagining is VIA's latest production, the MVP4 chipset, not so much a successor, rather a compliment to their already successful MVP3 chipset.

As taken from www.via.com.tw:

The Apollo MVP4 is an advanced System Multimedia Architecture (SMA) PC core logic chipset for Super 7 PC systems. The VIA Apollo MVP4 is a combination of the widely successful VIA Apollo MVP3 and a high performance 2D/3D graphics controller. Paired with the new VIA VT82C686 Super South bridge, The MVP4 is a compelling solution for cost-effective, full-feature desktop and mobile PC designs.

The MVP4 integrates an AGP 2.0 - compliant 2D/3D AGP graphics controller into the north bridge of the chipset. Packed with features, the controller incorporates a 64-bit 2D/3D graphics engine and video accelerator with advanced DVD video and optional TV output capability. The controller supports Win-95 and Win-98 / NT5 miniport drivers.

For full feature system designs, the Apollo MVP4 is paired with the VIA VT82C686 south bridge. Highly advanced, the south bridge combines an integrated 2D/3D engine with DVD hardware acceleration, AC-97 audio support for SoundBlaster Pro and FM synthesis legacy audio, super I/O, and hardware monitoring capabilities.