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Whatever happend to S3?

N

NulloModo

Supreme [H]ardness
Joined
Dec 16, 2002
Messages
4,602
Hey,

I know 3DFX went bankrupt, and nVidia (god damn their souls) and ATI are the main players in the field now, but whatever happened to S3? They seem to have faded from the game as opposed to going out with a bang. I had a Savage2000 card and I loved it (Unreal Tournament ran and looked great on their metal protocal).
 
I beleive they were gobbled up by ViA. So I just checked....Yep!

http://www.s3graphics.com/

Company Info
S3 Graphics Co., Ltd., a VIA Technologies joint venture company, is a leading supplier in the 3D enabled PC graphics market.

LOL
 
wow! they still make cards too..
Looks like their high-end offereing is called a " GammaChromeS18 Pro 256MB"

I wonder how it stacks up against other cards and what its compairable to..
 
lloose said:
wow! they still make cards too..
Looks like their high-end offereing is called a " GammaChromeS18 Pro 256MB"

I wonder how it stacks up against other cards and what its compairable to..
Click to expand...

Sounds like they're gearing their product towards the high-end word processor crowd :p
 
I wonder if I can pull +100 fps with spellcheck and grammar check on.. I think im going to wait for fontshader 4.0 to come out before I get a new card..

:D
 
From somewhere:

" S3 also threw video acceleration into the mix. The next generation of its Chromotion engine, version 3.0 is rolled into the Chrome20, with promised Hi-Def, widescreen and easy HDTV connectivity. Video acceleration is fast becoming a must have feature, and it looks like this part will check that box.

It looks like S3 is aiming for the mainstream gaming market, above the integrated graphics crowd, but without a price tag to break the budget of the big box store set. If you can run games natively at the resolution of a budget monitor, and fit in the price structure of a budget computer, S3 will do well. I think this card is aimed solidly at the OEM set, but I can also see a reason for the occasional boxed card.

Overall, we have an interesting set of offerings. It is supposed to be a family of cards, with other offerings in the wings, including a laptop part. The Chrome20 looks like it could deliver what they promise, a solid value card, low power, at a decent price. Look for the first from this family before Christmas."

Their next card will perform along a 6600/x700.

They're not going for the hardcore market, guys...
 
I had an S3 and oc'ed it to 325 core and could run Word 98 1280x1024 helvetica 12pt at a steady 50fps, dropping to the mid 30's when I scroll up and down, but I saw artifacing so i had to turn the oc off. I know my Ram is holding me back...I'm hoping this will be able to run WD 2007when it comes out.
 
Nakamori said:
I had an S3 and oc'ed it to 325 core and could run Word 98 1280x1024 helvetica 12pt at a steady 50fps, dropping to the mid 30's when I scroll up and down, but I saw artifacing so i had to turn the oc off. I'm going to get a zalman700 and try again...I'm hoping this will be able to run WD 2007when it comes out.
Click to expand...

jeebus, what are the temps on that thing? :p
 
Hopefully their new mid level/budget cards are good. Remember people not everyone can afford $500 graphics cards and would still like to play PC games. Also remember that competition is good and overall having more companies developing PC products is good for us gamers. That said, my integrated S3 was decent in UT but pretty much sucked for everything else.
 
BrainDanceR said:
House of Excel and Super-Word Arcade?

:p
Click to expand...

Dude, my friend's S3 was blazing on the Word 95 pinball easter egg! That thing is so awesome. I go over to his house all the time to play it.

-----

Seriously though, I doubt this will be a viable option to even budget builders here. The support probably sucks, and since they are so small (in the video card market compared to ATI and nVidia) the price/performance ratio probably won't be as good as a 6600GT/x800xl/6800GT/etc.
 
Russ said:
Seriously though, I doubt this will be a viable option to even budget builders here. The support probably sucks, and since they are so small (in the video card market compared to ATI and nVidia) the price/performance ratio probably won't be as good as a 6600GT/x800xl/6800GT/etc.
Click to expand...
Small? VIA is 'small'? I very much doubt that they'll fail to allocate sufficient resources for the design, production and support of a GPU targeted at a relatively high-profit market (compared to mainboard chipsets). And as long as this GPU is well-balanced, energy-efficient (laptops!) and cheap to manufacture (which it appears to be), OEMs will be standing in line to put it in many of their systems. The initial results (see the thread I linked, for example) show that the drivers are quite good already and the product as a whole seems free of any obvious flaws, including in the price/performance area.
 
Nakamori said:
I had an S3 and oc'ed it to 325 core and could run Word 98 1280x1024 helvetica 12pt at a steady 50fps, dropping to the mid 30's when I scroll up and down, but I saw artifacing so i had to turn the oc off. I know my Ram is holding me back...I'm hoping this will be able to run WD 2007when it comes out.
Click to expand...

LOL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

50FPS? I think I used to get about 12 with my PCI(Yes its PCI-E:mad: ) S3 Virge :D
 
Elledan said:
Small? VIA is 'small'? I very much doubt that they'll fail to allocate sufficient resources for the design, production and support of a GPU targeted at a relatively high-profit market (compared to mainboard chipsets). And as long as this GPU is well-balanced, energy-efficient (laptops!) and cheap to manufacture (which it appears to be), OEMs will be standing in line to put it in many of their systems. The initial results (see the thread I linked, for example) show that the drivers are quite good already and the product as a whole seems free of any obvious flaws, including in the price/performance area.
Click to expand...

I could certainly see VIA initally offering discounts to system integrators on the S3 if they use a VIA chipset. It could allow them better market penetration, and promote their new mobos at the same time.

 
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