X-bit labs

S3 Chrome S27 Graphics Processor Review: Worthy Performance for Its Class? (page 14)

Category: Video

by Alexey Stepin , Anton Shilov

[ 12/29/2005 | 12:11 PM ]

Far Cry

As we have already learned, the pixel shader performance of the Chrome S27 is quite high and this is reconfirmed by its results on the Pier map where the graphics card has to render a realistic water surface. The card is at first as fast as the RADEON X700 but then breaks away from it thanks to the fast memory. The S3 graphics card ensures comfortable speed even in 1280x1024 which is an achievement for an entry-level product. Against our expectations, the Chrome S27 didn’t sink to the last place at the “eye candy” settings, but was just a little slower than the RADEON X1300 PRO and RADEON X700.

The new graphics card from S3 does almost as well on the Research map, too, where it has to deal with long pixel shaders that create per-pixel lighting. You can play in 1280x1024, but selecting 1024x768 resolution would safeguard you against any slowdowns on the Chrome S27 in the most difficult scenes. The “eye candy” mode, unlike on the Pier map, shows the deficiency of S3’s approach to full-screen antialiasing. On the other hand, only the RADEON X1300 PRO and the GeForce 6600 GDDR2 can yield more than 40fps in this mode.