S3 Savage4

The 2D image quality on the two Savage4 sample boards AnandTech used during the tests was an incredible improvement over the TNT quality 2D output on the original Savage3D. This is primarily contributed to by the 300MHz integrated RAMDAC that is now the minimum requirement for a graphics accelerator, and a specification that has only been exceeded by 3dfx's 350MHz RAMDAC on the higher-end Voodoo3 cards (3000+ models). While resolutions at 1600 x 1200 and above are still iffy on the Savage4, dependent almost entirely upon the individual manufacturers themselves, most resolutions at 1280 x 1024 and below will give you an average 2D image quality, definitely not as poor as the cards from last year.

The 3D image quality of the Savage4, if you take the topic of texture compression out of consideration, is fairly standard for a 3D chipset being released today. Although there is no reason to scream out in joy about the standard 3D image quality of the Savage4, there's no big reason to complain either. With 3dfx, and NVIDIA already demonstrating image quality superior to that of the previous generation of accelerators, we can call the Savage4's 3D image quality average by today's standards, and above average by the standards implemented just a few months ago.

Adding the Savage4's unique support for texture compression into the equation changes that average rating into something more along the lines of the best that ever lived, since the textures capable of being displayed using a technology like S3TC are simply beautiful. The problem here is that although S3 claims a great deal of the upcoming titles such as idSoftware's Quake 3 Arena and Epic's Unreal Tournament will support S3TC, it's still not an indication of what games will actually ship with S3TC support from the start.

The quality of the Savage4's current drivers (S3 provided AnandTech with the latest engineering sample drivers as of April 27, 1999) is not bad, however they are not nearly as solid and stable as 3dfx's currently shipping Voodoo3 drivers (which isn't something to go boasting about either). This translates into a warning for potential buyers, the manufacturers shipping Savage4 based products currently will probably be doing so a tad prematurely. You'll either end up with a product with drivers boasting poor performance or horrid stability, if you're considering the Savage4, you might as well wait another week or two.

S3 is shipping the Savage4 with a fully functional OpenGL ICD right out of the box, and fortunately the Savage4 drivers don't feature the same problems the old Savage3D's drivers did, although they aren't perfect. AnandTech's test system did experience a few crashes during normal operation, however the performance numbers were consistent, and the Savage4 silicon is final, so you can expect performance and stability to do nothing other than improve between now and the widespread release of the Savage4.