Preview: S3 Graphics DeltaChrome S8 Nitro

Final Words

So can S3 Graphics make it in the DirectX 9.0 market segment? Honestly, time will have to tell as we've only been able to catch a small glimpse of what exactly is on the horizon for this card. The performance of the DeltaChrome S8 Nitro was not poor, but S3 still has a ways to go to make it a solid, marketable product in todays climate.

If the image quality issues we noted in this article can be worked out (along with OpenGL performance), and if S3 is able to provide full and complete DX9 support without compromising on image quality in any game, they will have a very nice higher end budget card on their hands (especially since the budget cards from ATI and NVIDIA tend to skimp on the support in some cases). The card could also be marketed on the lower end of the midrange market, but what it all comes down to is price. If this card costs the same as an ATI 9600 Pro or an NVIDIA 5700Ultra, it would most likely not be worth it (unless S3's driver team finds some sort of performance breakthroughs heretofore unheard of).

The other problem is that NVIDIA and ATI are getting ready to bring their second generation DX9 parts to market. Both camps will have improved performance and levels of support, as well as products that hit the entire gambit of price ranges. The longer it takes S3 Graphics to push out the DeltaChrome S8 and S8 Nitro products, the tougher their situation will become (unless they are very willing to sacrifice on retail pricing).

The value add aspects of the hardware could also be fairly attractive, and we would like to see things like saved settings associated with applications (like NVIDIA does) make their way into this cards featureset as well.

Another option S3 has open to is will be to use an S8 Nitro-like core for integrated graphics on VIA boards (since VIA owns S3, it is very likely that this will happen: Savage chips are currently used). If S3 can offer better speed and feature/API support than Intel's Extreme Graphics, it is very likely that VIA could help to put a dent in the Intel integrated graphics juggernaut. If there is one thing that has always been extremely lacking it is integrated graphics quality.

What it all comes down to is that the DeltaChrome does have potential. It may be a bit to early to tell exactly where that could take us, but more competition in the graphics market place is good for everyone. Here's to hoping that S3 can fix their current issues and bring a solid competitor to market in a timely manner.