X-bit labs

S3 Chrome S27 Graphics Processor Review: Worthy Performance for Its Class? (page 19)

Category: Video

by Alexey Stepin , Anton Shilov

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

Performance in Third-Person 3D Shooters

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The Chrome S27 is similar to the RADEON X700 in the lowest resolution, but then it falls behind despite having 4 vertex processors clocked at 700MHz – the memory bandwidth is not as important for this game as the number and efficiency of the vertex processors. The new graphics card seems a worthy rival against the GeForce 6600 GDDR2, though – these two cards differ by only 1fps in 1600x1200. The game is playable on the Chrome S27 in 1024x768 and 1280x1024 resolutions and, with some reservations, in 1600x1200, because 40fps should be enough for a third-person-view shooter.

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The graphics card from S3 delivers the same frame rate as the GeForce 6600, but we should not forget that it is the older GeForce 6600 – the newer version of this card is much faster here and, moreover, the Chrome S27 uses the Shader Model 2.0 mode of this game, with simpler visuals if compared with Shader Model 3.0 mode. The speed of the S3 card is too low for comfortable play even in the lowest resolution. The RADEON X1300 PRO can’t cope with this game, either, even though it has a somewhat higher speed.