S3 roadmap reveals DX10 and 10.1 chips

[ShadowOfMyself]

http://www.theinquirer.net/default.aspx?article=35932

Anyway its not Fuad, and its pretty interesting...

XE1/E1 is most powerful chip that S3 will launch in 2007/08 timeframe, with eight separate cores, quad-channel 512-bit (XE1) or 256-bit (E1) and support for DDR3, GDDR-4 and GDDR-5.

Nice raw numbers, maybe this time they will aim for high end at last?

 

[Piuc2020]

Yeah but without any significant support from developers and appropiate software I don't see them getting anywhere.

 

[Ayah]

S3's graphics are laughable at best.

 

[MercenaryForHire]

Originally posted by: ShadowOfMyself
http://www.theinquirer.net/default.aspx?article=35932

Anyway its not Fuad, and its pretty interesting...

XE1/E1 is most powerful chip that S3 will launch in 2007/08 timeframe, with eight separate cores, quad-channel 512-bit (XE1) or 256-bit (E1) and support for DDR3, GDDR-4 and GDDR-5, and will still be half as powerful as competing nVidia/ATI cards that cost a quarter of the price.

Nice raw numbers, maybe this time they will aim for high end at last?

A little editing for truth.

- M4H

 

[ShadowOfMyself]

Originally posted by: MercenaryForHire

Originally posted by: ShadowOfMyself
http://www.theinquirer.net/default.aspx?article=35932

Anyway its not Fuad, and its pretty interesting...

XE1/E1 is most powerful chip that S3 will launch in 2007/08 timeframe, with eight separate cores, quad-channel 512-bit (XE1) or 256-bit (E1) and support for DDR3, GDDR-4 and GDDR-5, and will still be half as powerful as competing nVidia/ATI cards that cost a quarter of the price.

Nice raw numbers, maybe this time they will aim for high end at last?

A little editing for truth.

- M4H

LOL Well, I still wonder where S3 gets all their money for R&D etc? What are they selling nowadays?

 

[CKXP]

if the article is true, then i applaud them...i would like to see them become a real competitor in GPU market...besides we need more competition.

XD2/D2 is sampling right now, with mass production coming in nine months time.

that is a loooong time from now, NV and ATI will be well ahead in DX10 market by then.

 

[MercenaryForHire]

Originally posted by: ShadowOfMyself
LOL Well, I still wonder where S3 gets all their money for R&D etc? What are they selling nowadays?

Low-end integrated graphics for desktops and laptops ... although they're getting squeezed out of that market pretty nicely by nV/ATI.

While I'd like to believe that they can be a valid third party - the more competitors the better - as mentioned before, their prior track record with driver issues and overall crappy performance makes me more than a little cynical.

- M4H

 

[Peter]

S3 are selling quite nicely where /really/ low power consumption counts. That gives them zero press coverage and public recognition though.

Secondly, their graphics engines are being integrated into VIA chipsets - and VIA owns the S3 company anyway. So even if a new discrete S3 graphics chip fails to make a dent in the market, its brain will be inside a VIA chipset some time later, and VIA will get their money's worth.

 

[sandorski]

Originally posted by: Peter
S3 are selling quite nicely where /really/ low power consumption counts. That gives them zero press coverage and public recognition though.

Secondly, their graphics engines are being integrated into VIA chipsets - and VIA owns the S3 company anyway. So even if a new discrete S3 graphics chip fails to make a dent in the market, its brain will be inside a VIA chipset some time later, and VIA will get their money's worth.

They probably are major Maketshare holders in the Developing and Third World as well.

 

[Pocatello]

I remember my 4MB S3 Virge 3d decelerator quite unfondly.

 

[sandorski]

Originally posted by: Pocatello
I remember my 4MB S3 Virge 3d decelerator quite unfondly.

Mine was decent, paired with my Voodoo 2.

 

[ronnn]

Now that ati is gone, must become s3boy!

 

[manuelku]

lol, don't forget s3virge3d is one of the first "3D" video chipset. go s3!! :beer:

 

[Stumps]

Originally posted by: Pocatello
I remember my 4MB S3 Virge 3d decelerator quite unfondly.

I still have my old Diamond Stealth 3D 2000 lying in a box somewhere.

It was the first PCI card that I actually purchased for an upgrade....just as well no 3D games that required GF card acceleration exsisted when I got it...otherwise I would have been pretty pissed.

 

[ViRGE]

Originally posted by: manuelku
lol, don't forget s3virge3d is one of the first "3D" video chipset. go s3!! :beer:

Free beer? Don't mind if I do. :beer:

 

[hardwareking]

i still don't get how they make clock speeds so high.Only explaination i can think of is that the chip will be extremely simple in terms of design and architecture.They rely on clock speeds to get the performance.

 

[nemesismk2]

I have always been big fan of S3 and have so far owned:-

16mb Hercules terminator beast savage3D
32mb Diamond stealth III s540 savage4
32mb Foxconn Savage4 GT
64mb Inno3d savage 2000
128mb Club3D Deltachrome S8

The Diamond Stealth III S540 Savage4 Pro was my favourite video card from S3!

 

[Stumps]

Originally posted by: nemesismk2
I have always been big fan of S3 and have so far owned:-

16mb Hercules terminator beast savage3D
32mb Diamond stealth III s540 savage4
32mb Foxconn Savage4 GT
64mb Inno3d savage 2000
128mb Club3D Deltachrome S8

The Diamond Stealth III S540 Savage4 Pro was my favourite video card from S3!

I have one of those sitting in my desk draw, It hasn't been used in years but it still should work a treat.

I also have a Creative model and a Diamond Viper 2 Savage 2000.

the Viper 2 I found was a nice card despite claims it was crap, it actually gave better performance on my old K6-3+ 550 than my hercules GF2MX in 99% of games that I used to run at the time (Q2,Q3, UT and NFS4 ).

 

[A554SS1N]

If S3 release it on time, it will be good, but their last offering was only around X700 performance, costed alot more, and didn't really offer that much less power consumption. At the time of the initial reviews, it had a place, but then a month or so later, ATi and NVidia released updates making it obsolete by a mile.

 

[nemesismk2]

Originally posted by: Stumps

Originally posted by: nemesismk2
I have always been big fan of S3 and have so far owned:-

16mb Hercules terminator beast savage3D
32mb Diamond stealth III s540 savage4
32mb Foxconn Savage4 GT
64mb Inno3d savage 2000
128mb Club3D Deltachrome S8

The Diamond Stealth III S540 Savage4 Pro was my favourite video card from S3!

I have one of those sitting in my desk draw, It hasn't been used in years but it still should work a treat.

I also have a Creative model and a Diamond Viper 2 Savage 2000.

the Viper 2 I found was a nice card despite claims it was crap, it actually gave better performance on my old K6-3+ 550 than my hercules GF2MX in 99% of games that I used to run at the time (Q2,Q3, UT and NFS4 ).

Yeah I really liked my Savage 2000 as well, it gave me a big performance increase over my Savage4 Pro. Wish I had purchased the Diamond Viper 2 though which was a bit faster than my Inno3D Savage 2000

 

[Cooler]

Also there are rumors that the R600 was a DX10.1 Chip hence a reason it will not come out until vista?s released.

 

[nemesismk2]

Originally posted by: A554SS1N
If S3 release it on time, it will be good, but their last offering was only around X700 performance, costed alot more, and didn't really offer that much less power consumption. At the time of the initial reviews, it had a place, but then a month or so later, ATi and NVidia released updates making it obsolete by a mile.

Hopefully S3 can get some good reviews and publicity. They also need to start selling their products to countries outside of the US because in the UK you can't find any S3 video cards.