With its advanced VIA CoolStream architecture, the VIA C3® is packed with digital media performance features, including support for sixteen pipeline stages, SSE multimedia instructions, StepAhead™ Advanced Branch Prediction, an efficiency-enhanced 64KB Full-Speed Exclusive L2 cache with 16-way associativity, and a full-speed FPU. When coupled with the VIA CN400 digital media chipset, the VIA C3® delivers exceptional performance for all the most critical productivity, Internet, and digital media applications, including MPEG4 and MPEG2 video playback, MP3 audio playback, Voice over IP and video conferencing applications, multimedia slideshows and web browsing.
With a maximum design power of just over 20 watts at 1.4GHz, the VIA C3® runs extremely cool and delivers very low levels of energy consumption. This not only makes it the ideal solution for powering a wide variety of low profile, small form factor PCs, but also enables very low noise system design implementations that are necessary for the emerging generation of Personal Electronics devices for the living room.
To address the growing need among corporate, government, and home users to protect sensitive data on their connected devices, the C5P Nehemiah core of the VIA C3® processor incorporates advanced on-die security features that make up the VIA PadLock Security Engine1, featuring the VIA PadLock ACE (Advanced Cryptography Engine) and the VIA PadLock RNG (Random Number Generator).

Security applications that leverage the military-grade capabilities of the VIA PadLock Security Engine can be deployed quickly and easily across a broad range of devices including PCs, thin clients, set top boxes, home digital entertainment centers, point of sale terminals, and intelligent network routers in a wide variety of wired and wireless networking environments. Potential usage scenarios include Virtual Private Networks (VPNs), Corporate Peer to Peer Networks with restricted access for sensitive projects, and Home Wireless Networks.
With its industry leading low power consumption, exceptional application performance, rock solid reliability, and robust security features, the VIA C3® is unleashing a new wave of innovation in secure, stylish, quiet running small form factor systems that are expanding the reach of x86 architecture into exciting new market segments, such as Personal Electronics. When coupled with the VIA CN400, the first chipset in the world to feature integrated Hardware MPEG4 and MPEG2 acceleration, the VIA C3® is the ideal solution for powering an almost unlimited variety of digital media entertainment devices for the home, the car, hotels, and countless other locations.

"from VIA site"