Chipmaker Via's S3 Graphics division has announced a high-performance discrete graphics processor positioned as the first to meet the embedded industry's thermal requirements. The 4300E targets gaming and signage, offers HD video, DVI or HDMI output, and mixes dedicated and shared video memory.

(Click here for a larger view of S3's 4300e)

S3's 4300E supports DirectX 10.1, OpenGL 2.1, plus accelerated HD video in WMV-9 HD, MPEG-2 HD, VC-1, H.264, DivX and AVS formats. It also provides support for PVP (protected video playback) copy protection, and allows HD playback of Blu-Ray media with relatively low CPU utilization, S3 says.

The 65nm 4300E can be operated at clock speeds from 300MHz to 650MHz. At 300MHz it runs fanlessly, and at 650MHz it supports GDDR3 (graphics double data rate 3) RAM, with video memory speeds up to 900MHz.

Up to 256MB of GDDR2 or GDDR3 video memory can be dedicated to the 4300E. In addition, S3's “AcceleRAM” technology lets the processor use a combination of dedicated and system memory. Transfers between system memory and the graphics processor take place across the 4300e's PCI Express 2.0-compliant bus, which supports x1, x4, x8, and x16 lane widths. The 4300E offers power-saving features, including dynamic clock controls and individual execution units that can be turned off when idle, says S3.

S3 Graphics 4000-series function block diagram
(Click to enlarge)

Finally, the 4300e supports output to LVDS-interfaced flat panels, DVI, CRTs, and HDMI with HDCP (high-bandwidth digital copy protection). It has built-in dual-link DVI/HDMI transmitters, dual-channel LVDS transmitters, and two analog RAMDACs.

The 4300e is compatible with Linux, Windows Vista, Windows XP, and Windows XP Professional. An SDK (software development kit) and hardware development kit will be available in June, the company says.

Pricing and availability information for the 4300e was not released.

 
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