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SiS licenses Intel's 800MHz FSB

But will now face 'legitimate' VIA P4 chipsets

Intel has granted SiS a Pentium 4 800MHz bus licence, a move the chipset maker last week announced it expected "soon".

The deal is an extension of SiS' existing P4 bus licence, allowing the company to offer products that compete with Intel's i875P chipset, formerly known as Canterwood, and the upcoming Springdale part. The i875P was launched this past Monday.

Terms of the deal remain confidential, though we note that SiS spins it as a "cross-licensing" agreement. If that's actually the case, we'd like to know what SiS has offered Intel in return, but we suspect it's just SiS using terminology that makes the deal sound more balanced than it is.

The agreement follows not only the launch of Intel's 800MHz frontside bus, but the settlement of the chip giant's long-running dispute with VIA. The latter now has the right (in Intel's mind; VIA always believed it was allowed to do so) to produce Pentium 4 chipsets, including parts supporting the 800MHz bus. That will put plenty of pressure on the likes of SiS, which had hoped it would only be competing with Intel and lesser players, and not the number two chipset vendor. ®

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SiS trying to license Intel's 800MHz P4 FSB

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