VIA has begun shipping its Athlon 64 chipset, the K8M800 - the world's first integrated chipset for the 64-bit AMD processor, it claims.

You might wonder why a workhorse like the Athlon 64 would be paired with an relatively low-spec. integrated graphics core, given the focus of 64-bit computing on high bandwidth applications, but VIA reckons there's demand for the part "beyond the realms of high-end workstations and gaming PCs".

And AMD certainly claims the 64-bit chip is a better 32-bit processor than its previous 32-bit Athlons. VIA presumably wants to appeal to system builders who feel the same.

Read more: The Register.