S3 Graphics Quietly Slips In Chrome 540 GTX

[btarunr]

S3 Graphics made a quiet addition to its lineup with the Chrome 540 GTX graphics card. Spotted first on the GStore by TechConnect Magazine, the new graphics card made it to the company's store without the company even announcing it, or assigning a product page on the company website. From what the card's specifications on GStore and its tiny picture tell, this card builds on the basic architecture of its predecessor the Chrome 530 GT, by increases in clock-speeds and expanding connectivity options.

The Chrome 540 GTX features a core clock speed of 800 MHz, its memory is clocked at 850 MHz. The card uses a 64-bit wide GDDR3 memory interface that holds 256 MB of memory. It is compliant with the latest graphics standards: DirectX 10.1 and OpenGL 3.0, and uses a PCI-Express 2.0 x16 interface. Compliance aside, the accelerator is built mainly for HD video acceleration and multi-head display. The Chromotion 2.0 technology is said to provide hardware-acceleration for Blu-ray, H.264 and VC-1 video standards. It uses a full-height PCB to hold three connectors on-board: DVI-D, HDMI and DisplayPort. The card is HDCP-capable and has an integrated audio controller that is routed to the connectors. The Chrome 540 GTX is available at the GStore for US $69.95.



View at TechPowerUp Main Site

 

[Cheeseball]

I wonder how much juice this card uses. It looks to be a good card for an HTPC setup...

 

[Flyordie]

Yes it does... but if it doesn't offload 99% of the HD Streams, then no go for it.

 

[mtosev]

looks kickass

 

[3870x2]

I would really like chrome to come out with something that would rival high end card solutions.

 

[DrPepper]

Looks very bare compared to others

 

[Apocolypse007]

I look forward to as many competitors in the market as possible, but really what does this card offer the consumer that similar priced offerings from ATI/nVidia don't already?

 

[DrPepper]

I look forward to as many competitors in the market as possible, but really what does this card offer the consumer that similar priced offerings from ATI/nVidia don't already?

Dual HDMI outputs ? Probably superior to similarly priced cards, except now I'd say the 8800GT would be about £70 but this card would be wayyyy more energy efficient.

Edit: My apologies it isn't dual HDMI outputs, one is display port and the other is hdmi.

 

[Steevo]

Probably has the same power as the integrated ATI offering, but you get a mobo and GPU for the same price as this.

 

[WarEagleAU]

Im liking the price point of S3. I mean I love ATI cards and what not, but for the price and the power they have, Id go with S3 for my HTPC if it works as well as ATIs

 

[eidairaman1]

Well Well Well, looks like S3 may become the next competitor in the graphics field.

 

[7mm]

I would really like chrome to come out with something that would rival high end card solutions.

Love to see that kind'a competetion .

 

[amunaor]

Go S3!

Thank You S3 for offering us inexpensive *** DISPLAYPORT *** video card solution. Finally, it appears the light bulb has gone off in someones head!

It seems as though ATi and Nvidia deem this connection worthy only of inclusion on their high $$$ cards, FirePro and Quadro; who, otherwise, insist on manufacturing their, status quo, high-wattage guzzlers that require a dedicated 220 line directily from the power company with a truck load of dry-ice parked outside from which to pack the screaming, overheated chips with.