At CeBit in Hannover, Germany, nVidia launched its Vanta processor. The chip will be nVidia's low-cost integrated processor for OEMs to provide 2D/3D capabilities to add-in and motherboards for "value-conscious users".

　　Employing the same Riva TNT2 core with its 128-bit TwiN Texel engine, the Vanta provides support for software and hardware DVD playback, AGP 4.X, and flat panel displays on Windows 95/98/NT and 2000 platforms and is backwards compatible with the current Detonator driver family.

　　"Vanta brings nVidia's award-winning architecture to the mass market," said Jeff Fisher, vice president of sales at nVidia. "Vanta's unique combination of high-performance graphics and extremely aggressive pricing allows our OEMs and system builders to deliver nVidia's industry-leading graphics processors to two markets not currently being addressed by our RIVA-based family."

　　The chip has already garnered support from ten companies, including Asustek, Diamond Multimedia, and Guillemot and should be shipping sometime this quarter. More announcements regarding OEM and retail sales are expected to be forthcoming.