
S3 Graphics Chrome 400

S3 Graphics Chrome 400 is the successor of S3 Chrome S20 series.
History.
VIA planned the production of two new graphics chips, Chrome 440 and 430, by the end of 2007. The Chrome 460 will support DirectX 10 and adopts a 90 nanometer process, while the Chrome 430 will support DirectX 10.1 and adopts a 65 nanometer process. The Chrome 400 series was codenamed 'Destination'. Both chips will be manufactured by Fujitsu and have already entered the design verification test stage. Volume production is expected to start before the end of the year, noted the sources.
The 430 GT was released on 2008-03-20 in US market, while 440 GTX was released in 2008-05-30.
Features.
The production models are made in 65 nm process, supports DirectX 10.1, and uses PCI Express 2.0 interface. Chromotion engine now supports variable-length decoding, and dual-stream Blu-ray playback (440 GTX). Display unit includes two dual-link DVI transmitters with integrated HDMI (audio pass-through) and HDCP, an integrated dual-channel LVDS transmitter, an integrated TV/HDTV encoder, and support for two analog CRTs. 440 GTX runs at 725 MHz core speed.
Chrome 400 ULP.
It is a mobile line for the Chrome 400. 430 ULP includes features in 430 GT, while 435 ULP and 440 ULP includes features in 440 GTX.
This product was released on 2008-09-24.
Reception.
In TechPowerUp's review of the 800/800 MHz core/memory version of S3 Graphics Chrome 440 GTX 256 MB video card, its performance is in the range of Radeon 3450 and GeForce 8500 GT. At a 1024×768 resolution, it is slightly slower than GeForce 9400 GT. Performance per dollar is the lowest of the list. Power consumption is on par with those products.