While it doesn't make headlines quite as often as AMD and Nvidia, S3 Graphics is definitely riding the OpenCL bandwagon—it's just targeting somewhat different markets. The California-based Via subsidiary has announced the Chrome 5400E, an embedded graphics processor that's compatible with both OpenCL 1.0 and DirectX 10.1.
According to the official product page, this 65-nm GPU resides on a diminutive 23 x 23 mm ball-grid-array package, can accommodate up to 512MB of DDR2 or GDDR3 memory, hooks up to the rest of the system via PCI Express 2.0, and supports dual-link DVI, HDMI, and DisplayPort outputs.
The Chrome 5400E may not outrun the latest GeForces and Radeons, but that's probably not what it's shooting for. S3 says the Chrome 5400E is built on a low-power manufacturing process and has "the industry’s best GFLOPS per watt rating." The GPU scales voltage and clocks dynamically, too, and it can even switch off execution units to save power.
Software-wise, S3 claims driver support for all recent flavors of Windows—XP, Vista, and Win7—not to mention Linux and Windows CE. No word on pricing or upcoming applications yet, though. (Thanks to TR reader Meadows for the tip.)
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