S3 Chrome

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S3 Graphics' Chrome series of graphics accelerators arrived in 2004 with the DeltaChrome line of chips. They are designed to be used as discrete, mobile, and integrated graphics solutions.

[edit] Overview

In 2004, VIA attempted to re-launch the S3 Graphics name with updated discrete hardware, but performance was still far adrift from NVIDIA and ATI Technologies. However, the low power requirements and high-definition output of the Chrome range make it attractive for small form factor scenarios.

The Chrome series, excluding perhaps the unreleased Savage XP/AlphaChrome, supports Direct3D 9 with full pixel shader 2.0 support.

S3's AcceleRAM technology is similar to ATI's HyperMemory and nVIDIA's TurboCache, where system RAM is used as the video card's memory, but there is also a small amount of local memory on the video card itself acting as a cache.

Furthermore, the MultiChrome technology is equivalent to ATI CrossFire and nVIDIA's SLI.

[edit] Models

Chronological order

Chip	Release	Die process (nm)	Core clock (MHz)	Pipeline^[1]	Vertex Shaders	Memory clock (MHz)	Memory interface width (bit)	Notes
Savage XP (AlphaChrome)	6/2002	150						DDR SDRAM. Unreleased.
DeltaChrome S4 Pro	mid 2004	130	300	4/4/4	2	300	128	Shader Model 2
DeltaChrome S8	mid 2004	130	300	8/8/8	4	300	128	Shader Model 2
DeltaChrome S8 Nitro	mid 2004	130	315	8/8/8	4	315	128	Shader Model 2
DeltaChrome S8 ULP	mid 2004	130	200	8/8/8	4	300	128	Shader Model 2
GammaChrome S18 CE	3/2005	130	400	4/4/4	4	300	128	Shader Model 2
GammaChrome S18 PRO	3/2005	130	300	4/4/4	4	300	128	Shader Model 2
Chrome S25	11/2005	90	600	4/8/8	4	400 (Max 500/500/700 for GDDR1/GDDR2/GDDR3 memory)	32/64/128	PCIe. GDDR1, GDDR2, GDDR3. AcceleRAM, MultiChrome.
Chrome S27	11/2005	90	700	4/8/8	4	700 (Max 500/500/700 for GDDR1/GDDR2/GDDR3 memory)	32/64/128	PCIe. GDDR1, GDDR2, GDDR3. AcceleRAM, MultiChrome.