Preview: S3 Graphics DeltaChrome S8 Nitro
by Derek Wilson on March 9, 2004 3:44 AM EST- Posted in
- GPUs
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.
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colinm - Saturday, May 15, 2004 - link
S3 needs to get good drivers for their other products before they even try to put a new product on the market. I bought a S3 Savage about the time the TNT was released and S3 still hasn't made solid drivers for it, much less ANY product released since then. S3 is a joke, don't be fooled for a moment. Don't buy their hardware no matter how much potential it has expecting them to eventually fix the driver issues because it will NOT happen.bldkc - Tuesday, April 6, 2004 - link
I agree, it's a POS. As a mechanical engineer I have guys coming in to see me every day with their "upgraded", or "more efficient" designs. All I know is it has to meet my specs. I will not vary my specs if there is someone else who will meet them.I tell them what I want, but they show up with something that doesn't meet my needs. Sound like the S3 with the Deltachrome? The point is that just because it does some things well does not mean it isn't a POS. Heck, my daughter's Reader Rabbit games would have this thing on it's knees.
kamper - Saturday, March 13, 2004 - link
also a spell checker wouldn't hurt too much would it? It's not "impliment" and it definitely isn't "impilment"kamper - Saturday, March 13, 2004 - link
as cliffa3 points out, you guys really need to hire someone with an english degree. Here's another one that had me scratching my head for a while:"Another option S3 has open to is will be to use..." wtf? (2nd last paragraph, last page)
aka1nas - Wednesday, March 10, 2004 - link
Well it obviously needs driver work, but, as long as they get it marketable and don't price it too high then they can make enough of their money back on it to keep them in the game. I think some of the problem with the graphics card market is that the few new players that try to enter the market either don't have the capital or fortitude to try to stay in for the long-term. Even if the deltachrome doesn't make a profit for S3, they can still quite possibly defray much of the cost of developing it and apply the experience in hardware design and drivers that they have gained and make a great second generation product. It takes time and a lot of coordination to get people to work effectively and efficiently at such a complicated project.LoneWolf15 - Wednesday, March 10, 2004 - link
S3 seems to have one continuous problem: They aim too low.I'm not saying they should go for top-end, but if you want to market a 3D vid card these days, then look at the current models you want to compete with --and then design a card that will beat their successor (in this case, the Radeon 9600XT/GeforceFX 5700). S3's cards, when released, are always cards we might have been interested in six months ago, but in the current market are either too pricey, or still not stable enough, guaranteeing that at the point S3 gets their drivers just right, the card is 8-10 months out of date, and only a good deal if priced in the $99 range, assuming they actually support the GPU for awhile with driver updates.
Serp86 - Wednesday, March 10, 2004 - link
yeah. it definately got potential, but it needs mature drivers.Kinda like the radeon 8500....(although it was high end, and performed good at release, if it was released with mature drivers it would have been the turning stone for ati, not the 9700Pro.)
Marsumane - Tuesday, March 9, 2004 - link
This is actually great news. If they actually get this card working to the level of a 9600 pro, then we could definately see some more sort lowering of the prices. This could prove to be very good for us consumers that like to buy sub $200 cards. It seems to have good potential, and I cant wait to see its final performance/price.AgaBooga - Tuesday, March 9, 2004 - link
From the results, I think it needs more driver workIdoxash - Tuesday, March 9, 2004 - link
"wow, another POS"I guess if nothing can out beat ATI and nVidia in speed it's a POS? There are many aspects of a video card then just speed alone. For example: From wut I read many months ago when S3 first talked about this new GFX card of theirs they stated it uses something like 7 watts of power. If that is the case then you have a GFX card that does dang good in speed and uses far, far, less power then any other GFX card.
In either way they should turn this into a intergrated chip as well for notebooks and mini-mobos. Be a nice gfx chip to have alone with a low energy consuming C3.
--Idoxash