Our first impression of the VIA P4PB Ultra, when the box showed up on the testing bench, was that it screamed (literally) that it was here to play. From the no-nonsense black box with a guy yelling (at what we have yet to find out) to the impressive bundle within, it was clear that VIA was out to stake their own claim on the Pentium 4 Enthusiast Motherboard playing field. Legally, it has been a mostly uphill battle for VIA, who claims that the rights to the P4's system bus architecture, were acquired when they bought out S3 Graphics. Intel, which designs and manufactures chipsets for the majority share of P4 boards sold, would like nothing better than to keep VIA out of their backyard.
