S3 Inc’s 128-bit Savage3D chip, which marked the company’s re-entry into the graphics fray, has been selected by Diamond Multimedia Systems as the basis for a new 2D/3D graphics board aimed at the OEM and retail markets. A spokesperson for Diamond said that the board would be aimed at a more mainstream market than its 8MB & 12MB Monster 3D II boards – based around 3Dfx Interactive Inc’s Voodoo2 chipset. The contract comes hard on the heels of the Savage3D chip being selected for reference designs by Microsoft Corp, as the basis of a WebTV board. Previously, the Californian company collaborated with Microsoft on its DirectX 6.0 API (CI No 3,375). However, despite this heavyweight support and the launch of its new chip, Nasdaq-listed S3’s shares have not seen any dramatic lift since reaching their nadir in November last year. They rose a modest 7% on the news of the Diamond deal to $5.38 but are well down on the year’s high of $18.06.
