Chinese website HKEPC reports that VIA has plans for PCI Express 2.0 chipsets for Intel platforms at the end of this year where the samples will be out as early as Q2 2007. VIA PT960 Discrete and PM960 IGP chipsets support upcoming FSB1333 Core 2 Duo processors, DDR2-533/667/88/1066 or DDR3-800/1066/1333 memories, PCI Express 2.0 (1x16 Graphics, 4 x PCIe x1) and will link up with the Southbridge via Ultra V-Link.

PM960 IGP chipset will offer S3 Chrome 9 HD integrated graphics with MPEG2, MPEG4, WMV9, VC1, H.264 hardware accelerator and integrated HDTV Encoder. VIA PT960 will be paired up with VT8251L Southbridge offering an additional 2 PCIe lanes, VIA Vinyl HD Audio w/ 6 Channel Audio, 8 USB 2.0 ports, 10/100 Ethernet, 4 SATA/PATA w/ RAID while VIA PM960 will be paired up with VT8237S Southbridge supporting VIA Vinyl HD Audio w/ 8 Channel Audio, 8 USB 2.0 ports, 10/100 Ethernet, 2 SATA w/ RIAD & 4 PATA.