Från ingenstans tillkännagav S3 Graphics en ny serie av grafikkort i form av deras Chrome 400-serie. Grafikkretsen kan skicka ut de senaste grafikeffekterna genom sitt DirectX 10.1 stöd men kretsarnas generella prestanda kan bli en flaskhals för att ta del av alla dessa med bibehållen FPS. Som med tidigare grafikkretsar från S3 är målet inte högprestandamarknaden utan mellansegmentet. Konsumenter som helt enkelt letar efter billiga grafikkretsar som erbjuder det mesta i funktionalitet och kikar vi närmare på Chrome 400-serien blir vi inte besvikna i denna mening.
Chrome 400 serien använder sig av en 65nm GPU med en anmärkningsvärt låg strömförbrukning och värmeutveckling. Man siktar inte bara in sig på desktopmarknaden utan även den mobila marknaden. Även om den mobila gamingprestandan kanske inte kommer vara av världsklass med bland annat en 64-bit minnesbuss ska multimediafunktionerna inte skämmas för sig. VIA skryter om fullt HD video stöd och stöd för de senaste displaygränssnitten.
“S3 Graphics has developed a product that will deliver incredible, high quality 1080p HD playback for Home Media Centers, Desktop PCs and Ultra Thin and Light Notebook PCs without creating the unwanted noise and heat often associated with high performance components,” said Dr. Ken Weng, GM of S3 Graphics. “The feature-rich capabilities in the Chrome 400 Series will provide the end-user with a broad spectrum of new visual capabilities in a leading performance-per-watt product.”
Som ni kanske redan gissat kommer Chrome 400-serien att bli en integrerad grafikkrets som ska användas vid sidan om moderkortsstyrkretsarna. De första GPUerna ska dyka upp senare under denna månaden.
- DirectX 10.1 Support: An S3 proprietary unified shader architecture supports the latest additions to DirectX 10.1 allowing realistic 3D rendering and increased visual acuity through improved Anti-aliasing (AA), Image/Texture improvements, higher precision formats, and programmable lighting effects. These improvements will allow users to experience life-like rendering and image quality in supported DirectX 10.1 applications.
- ChromotionHD Video Technology: Featuring a fully programmable video architecture with true HD quality 1080p playback for Blu-ray and HD-DVD content, the ChromotionHD engine supports the latest HD standards including H.264, MPEG-2, MPEG-4, VC-1, WMV-HD, and AVS, for a stunning movie experience. The video engine is also highly optimized with the decoding and post processing display pipeline that allows simultaneous acceleration of single and multiple video streams in HD format with vibrant colors and picture clarity.
- S3 Graphics PowerWise Technology: Sophisticated algorithms and power control mechanisms will allow Chrome 400 Series GPUs to deliver the optimal balance between performance and power on-the-fly, to meet performance and application requirements for power efficient graphics computing on thin and light notebook PCs and small form factor (SFF) PCs. Additional benefits allow users to increase time-between-charges by extending battery life and superior performance-per-watt operation, giving users a true mobile graphics platform for the latest 3D and HD video technologies. Enabling PowerWise on consumer desktops will provide an ideal platform for silent, fanless solutions in HD multimedia home systems. In the corporate market, PowerWise will reduce the total cost of ownership (TCO), minimizing electricity usage and cooling costs.
- PCI Express 2.0: Chrome 400 Series GPUs support the latest advances to the PC component interconnect by offering users the ability to boost the graphics performance of their current systems with the high throughput PCI Express 2.0 bus technology. The faster connection speed also allows users to take advantage of additional S3 Graphics technologies such as AcceleRAM which leverages system memory for image data storage, and MultiChrome Multi-GPU technology to unleash higher 3D rendering performance.
- Advanced Display Connectivity: Integrated digital display support with HDCP content protection will allow users to connect to a multitude of monitors, displays, and consumer electronic (CE) devices for HD content viewing across a secure display path. Built-in HDMI transmitters with HD Audio controllers allow seamless HDMI connectivity, without requiring external cable connectors for audio inputs into the GPU. Display interfaces include HDMI, dual-link DVI, DisplayPort, HDTV, and VGA. Supporting the latest display technologies ensures S3 Graphics can deliver an optimal viewing experience to the user for 3D and HD video.
- AcceleRAM: Chrome 400 Series GPUs allow users to dynamically manage the total video memory size by using a combination of local and system memory. Data transfers between system memory and the graphics processor take place on-the-fly across the PCIe bus.
- Advanced Display and Audio Integration: Chrome 400 Series processors incorporate two dual-link DVI transmitters each with integrated HDMI and HDCP, an integrated dual channel LVDS transmitter, an integrated TV/HDTV encoder, and support for two analog CRTs. Chrome 400 Series processors also introduce S3 Graphics new integrated HD Audio controller and codec. DisplayPort is supported through an external transmitter.
- Advanced power management: Chrome 400 Series processors support advanced power management technologies for desktop and mobile implementations, including dynamic clock controls and integrated temperature sensor technology. Individual execution units can also be turned-off when idle which allows additional power savings. Chrome 400 Series products support PCIe ASPM which helps minimize power consumption dynamically.
