S3 Savage 2000 (Diamond Viper II)

If the Savage 2000 were months away and this was the current level of performance the product was at, then the solution would be promising. But the reality of the matter is that in less than a week, you'll be able to purchase this very same product on the Diamond Viper II for around $200 and you will be given this level of performance. In OpenGL, the performance isn't bad at all, although it could definitely be improved. Under Direct3D, the performance is truly lack luster and is indicative of poorly written drivers, a problem that has plagued S3 ever since the release of their Savage 3D in 1998.

S3 has really tried hard to make the Savage 2000 a success and in time we're sure that they will be able to improve on the problems we encountered during our testing, but at this time we simply cannot recommend the solution until the drivers have improved.

On the bright side, if S3 does get their act together and produces some better drivers, there are a few things to look forward to with the Savage 2000. The 32-bit performance of the chip is undeniably quite competitive, as is the performance of its OpenGL ICD. In theory the Savage 2000 should be able to outperform the GeForce due to its faster raw fill rate, it would be nice to actually see that theory represented in the benchmarks with better drivers.

Overall, the performance of the card can definitely be improved with some better drivers, and enabling S3TL (hardware T&L) in the drivers will yield another performance boost that should make the Savage 2000 a much more competitive solution. Until then, keep an eye on the Savage 2000 because   it could definitely become an affordable GeForce alternative, but for now, it's not something you'll want to go out and purchase.