I'm pretty certain Nvidia don't have an x86 licence. Not anything that would allow them to make a cpu, or anything near it.
They have ARM licences, and so can make Tegra chips etc.
edit : And the VIA licence is non-transferrable. Via isn't doing much any more, and they can't be bought out for their x86 licence.
Its a shame, They invented mini-ITX and Pico-ITX iirc.....
Via might not be doing anything, but then again, they never were, it's Centaur doing all the x86 work and having spoken to an employee there recently, they're working on something, but I'm not at liberty to share that information I'm afraid.
* In 2003, VIA settled its long-time patent and monopolisation disputes against Intel in the UK in exchange for an extensive cross-licence agreement with Intel for 10 years.
source: http://ec.europa.eu/competition/sect...l_decision.pdf
* In addition, the FTC settlement order will require Intel to:
•
modify its intellectual property agreements with AMD, Nvidia,
and VIA so that those companies have more freedom to consider mergers or joint ventures with other companies, without the threat of being sued by Intel for patent infringement;
•
offer to extend VIA’s x86 licensing agreement for five years beyond the current agreement, which expires in 2013;
source: https://www.ftc.gov/news-events/pres...-against-intel
_____________
About VIA Alliance Semiconductor Co Ltd. - 上海兆芯集成电路有限公司 (ZHAOXIN)
VIA Alliance Semiconductor Co., Ltd. was established in April 2013 with a total registered capital of USD$250M. As a joint venture between Shanghai Alliance Investment Ltd. who is affiliated to Shanghai SASAC and
VIA Technologies, Inc., VIA Alliance Semiconductor Co., Ltd. has about 1000 employees and locates its headquarter at Zhangjiang of Shanghai with branches in Beijing, Hangzhou, Wuhan, Shenzhen, Taiwan, California and Texas of America (Centaur Technology Inc.).
With the forefront technologies and know-how in the design of CPU, GPU and chipsets, VIA Alliance Semiconductor Co., Ltd. is well known to provide high security, high performance, low power dissipation, and low cost SoC solutions.
As a fabless SoC factory, VIA Alliance Semiconductor Co., Ltd. adopts advanced 40nm and 28nm semiconductor processes. VIA Alliance Semiconductor Co., Ltd.’s main products include CPU and chipsets for desktop PC and laptop and ARM Cortex series SoC with its state of the art Elite series GPU and Video Engine IPs. VIA Alliance Semiconductor Co., Ltd. aims at becoming the leading SoC solution supplier for smart TV (TVOS), smart phone and tablets.
link: http://en.zhaoxin.com/
Current x86 Product
source: http://en.zhaoxin.com/Solution.aspx?id=3
• (2017): ZX-D (28nm) 2.0GHz QuadCore and 2.0GHz OctaCore
link: http://en.zhaoxin.com/InCenterContent.aspx?id=115
link: http://en.zhaoxin.com/InCenterContent.aspx?id=112
link: http://ranker.sisoftware.net/show_s...e0ddedcba39eae88f0cdfddbbedbe6d6f083be86&l=en
• (2018): ZX-E (16nm) up to 3.0GHz OctaCore
Will after AMD comeback also VIA processors comeback? FinFET’s going chips and a large modernization
source: https://translate.google.sk/translate?hl=sk&sl=cs&tl=en&u=https://www.cnews.cz/bude-po-comebacku-amd-navrat-procesoru-via-chysta-finfetove-cipy-velkou-modernizaci/
