MUCH HAS BEEN MADE of NVIDIA's coming GeForce FX processor and the challenges the company has faced producing the new chip on a 0.13-micron manufacturing process. But just because NVIDIA won't have its 0.13-micron GeForce FX out until January or February of next year doesn't mean that the 0.13-micron process is somehow unattainable for graphics chips today. In fact, I've got a 0.13-micron graphics core running right next to me. It's SiS' Xabre600, a DirectX 8.1-compliant GPU that seems to have no problem chugging along on a 0.13-micron core.

SiS might seem like an unlikely candidate to have the first 0.13-micron desktop GPU, but they were also the first to support AGP 8X with the Xabre's initial launch, so they're no stranger to pushing the envelope. Unfortunately, the Xabre's initial launch was plagued by poor performance, application incompatibilities, and questionable driver shenanigans that largely overshadowed SiS' unique graphics offering.

Now, months after the initial Xabre400 release, SiS has added the faster Xabre600 to its arsenal of graphics products. This new Xabre comes with a revamped set of new drivers, too. Can a shrunken GPU and new drivers make the Xabre600 a credible, compatible, and perhaps even desirable value offering? Read on to find out.