Original URL: https://www.theregister.com/2002/01/15/via_eases_p4_drama/

VIA eases P4 drama with VIARAMA

Brand-cloaking

By Drew Cullen

Posted in Channel, 15th January 2002 12:46 GMT

VIA Technologies is selling five mobos featuring the its DDR chipsets for the Pentium 4 - under a new brand name.

This is VIARAMA, a cloak for motherboard manufacturers, which don't wish to reveal their identity in the face of Intel's patent suits seeking to stop the sale and manufacture of VIA's P4 DDR chipset. VIA also sells P4s DDR mobos under its own brand name.

We assume that Intel could find the identities of the VIARAMA suppliers easily enough. But so long as their names are shielded (thus avoiding any appearance of a bandwagon rolling for VIA), it may suit the chip giant's purpose to concentrate fire on VIA and the small crop of disties named in ongoing suits.

VIARAMA has two legs; mobo makers need first to pass the VIARAMA Approval Program, before their products are sold. The boards are based on the VIA Apollo P4X266 and P4X266A chipsets, and the VIA ProSavageDDR P4M266 chipset; two products, the P047 and P147, are available worldwide now. ®

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