BELIEVE IT OR NOT, S3 graphics is getting ready to show off its first dual GPU card. However, the venue at which the company will be launching this card might give away that it’s not for gamers, but rather for those that need something a little bit out of the ordinary.
The Digital Signage Expo takes place on the 24th and 25th of February in Las Vegas. S3 will be joined by VIA there and the two are set to show a few new things to what is a quickly growing vertical market. The Chrome 5400E x2 card features, as the name implies, a pair of S3 graphics 5400E GPUs and supports all the current 3D standards except DX11, although considering the target market, these features are unlikely to impress.
On the other hand, features such as support for four independent HD video streams at 1080p on up to eight displays are the kinds of things that will grab the attention of attendees to the Digital Signage Expo. S3 and VIA haven’t revealed much more in terms of what the 5400E x2 will have to offer, although considering that the 5400E has various configurations, depending on the memory the GPU its paired up with, we’d guess that S3 is considering a few different cost options here.
In terms of connectivity we’d guess that S3 has either gone for DisplayPort or HDMI, as it would be near enough impossible to cram in eight ports on a single card otherwise. There’s the possibility of using four DSM-59 or Low Force Helix connectors and then relying on dongles that add two DVI connectors per port, but this is a rather messy solution by comparison. We won’t have to wait long to find out more about this card and despite it being anything but a mainstream product, it’s good to see that S3 is still in the game and coming up with something out of the ordinary.S|A
Lars-Göran Nilsson
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