Viiv specs revealed

While Intel's Viiv has certainly garnered more than its share of press over the past few months, many of the actual specifics of what makes up a Viiv system have been fuzzy at best. We knew the basics--Media Center OS, 5.1 audio, and Instant On/Off feaures, but the actual CPUs and chipsets were not confirmed until this week.

The official word from Intel is that Viiv systems must have a dual-core Intel Pentium D or Pentium Extreme Edition processor. Laptops must have a new Intel Core Duo CPU. The chipsets supported by Viiv are the new Intel 945/955/975 Express chipset family. An Intel PRO/1000 PM or Intel PRO/100 VE/VM network connection is also required.

You can find the official press release and the price list for all of Intel's CPUs on the Intel Web site, and Viiv-branded systems should be available for sale almost immediately.