If Intel is going to make a splash this year, VIA is going to make a flume. They will be showing their new KT133 chipset (formerly the KZ133), the Socket A replacement for the KX133. We cannot confirm that the VIA KT133 chipset is actually shipping in volume to OEMs. We have received conflicting answers from different motherboard makers. We do know that the boards should go into production later this month, and no maker has told us that their boards are already in production.

VIA will also be showing their PM133 chipset, which is essentially the Apollo Pro133A chipset with integrated S3 Savage4 video and external AGP. This chipset will compete directly with Intel's i815.

Over the past year, VIA's market share has grown tremendously. Their Apollo 133 chipset has been a massive success, taking market share away from Intel. The largest reason for VIA's success appears to be the Intel and RAMBUS failure to get RDRAM prices down to acceptable levels, limiting its appeal to the high-end, all while Intel's i810 series has no AGP slot, limiting its appeal to the low-end. This opened the door for VIA's Apollo 133, with a 133MHz FSB, compatibility with inexpensive SDRAM, and a 4x AGP slot. Another advantage VIA has is being a Taiwan-based company. Being from the same nation gives a "home team" appeal to VIA.

VIA's situation is still not perfect. Many motherboard makers we spoke with had concerns over VIA being able to deliver enough chipsets. Of course, in today's booming computer industry, shortages are common. Intel and SiS also have their own troubles in delivering chipsets to makers.

We also asked board makers how they felt about VIA chipsets and their stability versus Intel. All but one maker we spoke with said without hesitation that Intel chipsets are more stable than VIA's. A few makers also pointed out VIA's AGP compatibility problems. Just recently, 3dfx recalled their Voodoo5 5500 AGP cards right after they started shipping. While 3dfx did not make a public statement as to why the boards were recalled, we have heard from other sources that it was at least in part because they would not work with the VIA Apollo Pro chipset. In our own testing, before 3dfx's recall, the Voodoo5 5500 did not run in our VIA KX133 motherboard system.