<s>
The	O
S3	B-Device
ViRGE	I-Device
(	O
Video	O
and	O
Rendering	O
Graphics	O
EngineS3	O
ViRGE	B-Device
on	O
S3	O
Official	O
website	O
)	O
graphics	O
chipset	B-Device
was	O
one	O
of	O
the	O
first	O
2D/3D	O
accelerators	O
designed	O
for	O
the	O
mass	O
market	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Introduced	O
in	O
1995	O
by	O
then	O
graphics	O
powerhouse	O
S3	O
,	O
Inc.	O
,	O
the	O
ViRGE	B-Device
was	O
S3	O
's	O
first	O
foray	O
into	O
3D-graphics	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
S3/Virge	O
was	O
the	O
successor	O
to	O
the	O
successful	O
Trio64V+	B-Device
.	O
</s>
<s>
ViRGE/325	O
was	O
pin	O
compatible	O
with	O
the	O
Trio64	O
chip	O
,	O
retaining	O
the	O
DRAM-framebuffer	O
interface	O
(	O
up	O
to	O
4MB	O
)	O
,	O
and	O
clocking	O
both	O
the	O
core	O
and	O
memory	O
up	O
to	O
80MHz	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
Windows	O
,	O
Virge	B-Device
was	O
benchmarked	O
as	O
the	O
fastest	O
DRAM-based	O
accelerator	O
of	O
the	O
era	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
VRAM-based	O
version	O
,	O
ViRGE/VX	O
,	O
was	O
actually	O
slower	O
in	O
lower	O
resolutions	O
,	O
but	O
had	O
a	O
faster	O
RAMDAC	B-Device
to	O
support	O
high-resolution	O
modes	O
not	O
available	O
on	O
the	O
325	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Part	O
of	O
S3	O
's	O
marketing	O
plan	O
for	O
the	O
ViRGE	B-Device
included	O
the	O
"	O
S3D	O
"	O
standard	O
,	O
stating	O
that	O
members	O
of	O
the	O
ViRGE	B-Device
family	O
carried	O
the	O
S3D	O
Graphics	B-Device
Engine	I-Device
.	O
</s>
<s>
Games	O
that	O
supported	O
ViRGE	B-Device
directly	O
put	O
this	O
logo	O
on	O
their	O
box	O
so	O
owners	O
of	O
the	O
3D	B-Device
card	O
would	O
know	O
that	O
it	O
would	O
run	O
as	O
well	O
as	O
possible	O
on	O
their	O
computer	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
And	O
,	O
despite	O
its	O
lackluster	O
3D-speed	O
,	O
the	O
ViRGE	B-Device
did	O
receive	O
some	O
S3D	O
enhanced	O
games	O
,	O
due	O
in	O
large	O
part	O
to	O
the	O
brand	O
prestige	O
S3	O
carried	O
in	O
this	O
period	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Some	O
examples	O
of	O
the	O
ViRGE-enhanced	O
versions	O
were	O
:	O
Terminal	B-Application
Velocity	I-Application
,	O
Descent	B-Application
II	I-Application
,	O
Monster	B-Application
Truck	I-Application
Madness	I-Application
,	O
Tomb	B-Application
Raider	I-Application
,	O
MechWarrior	B-Application
2	I-Application
,	O
FX	O
Fighter	O
Turbo	O
,	O
Terracide	B-Application
,	O
POD	B-Device
,	O
Incoming	B-Application
,	O
and	O
Jedi	O
Knight	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
With	O
the	O
successful	O
launch	O
of	O
the	O
Sony	B-Device
PlayStation	I-Device
home	O
game-console	O
,	O
pressure	O
was	O
on	O
the	O
PC	O
market	O
to	O
incorporate	O
hardware	O
that	O
could	O
compete	O
in	O
the	O
area	O
of	O
realtime	O
3D	B-Device
graphics	O
rendering	O
,	O
something	O
that	O
software-based	O
host-CPU	O
rendering	O
could	O
not	O
do	O
well	O
on	O
its	O
own	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
That	O
is	O
,	O
main-CPU	O
software-based	O
rendering	O
could	O
render	O
realtime	O
3D	B-Device
graphicsas	O
demonstrated	O
by	O
games	O
like	O
Descent	B-Application
,	O
which	O
used	O
only	O
the	O
main	O
CPU	O
and	O
standard	O
VGA	O
hardware	O
to	O
render	O
full-screen	O
3D	B-Device
video	O
with	O
6-degrees-of-freedom	O
motion	O
in	O
real	O
timebut	O
the	O
resolution	O
,	O
polygon	O
count	O
,	O
and	O
quality	O
of	O
shading	B-General_Concept
,	O
smoothing	O
,	O
etc	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
were	O
not	O
competitive	O
with	O
dedicated	O
3D	B-Device
rendering	O
hardware	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
While	O
the	O
market	O
demand	O
was	O
clearly	O
present	O
,	O
realtime	O
3D	B-Device
graphics	O
rendering	O
was	O
new	O
and	O
unfamiliar	O
territory	O
for	O
S3	O
and	O
many	O
of	O
its	O
hardware	O
competitors	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
With	O
a	O
sizable	O
chunk	O
of	O
ViRGE	B-Device
's	O
hardware	O
real-estate	O
already	O
devoted	O
to	O
other	O
key	O
functions	O
(	O
such	O
as	O
the	O
VGA-controller	O
,	O
2D/BITBLT	O
engine	O
,	O
RAMDAC	B-Device
,	O
PCI	B-Protocol
and	O
memory	O
interface	O
)	O
,	O
and	O
the	O
need	O
to	O
serve	O
traditional	O
2D	O
applications	O
,	O
the	O
resulting	O
3D	B-Device
functionality	O
was	O
both	O
limited	O
and	O
slow	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
When	O
performing	O
basic	O
3D-rendering	O
with	O
only	O
texture	O
mapping	O
and	O
no	O
other	O
advanced	O
features	O
,	O
ViRGE	B-Device
's	O
pixel	O
throughput	O
was	O
somewhat	O
faster	O
than	O
the	O
best	O
software-optimized	O
(	O
host-based	O
CPU	O
)	O
3D-rendering	O
of	O
the	O
era	O
,	O
and	O
with	O
better	O
(	O
16bpp	O
)	O
color	O
fidelity	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
3D-rendering	O
on	O
the	O
high-end	O
VRAM	O
based	O
ViRGE/VX	O
(	O
988	O
)	O
was	O
even	O
slower	O
than	O
the	O
less	O
expensive	O
ViRGE/325	O
,	O
due	O
to	O
the	O
VX	O
's	O
slower	O
core	O
and	O
memory	O
clock	O
rates	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
upgraded	O
ViRGE/DX	O
and	O
ViRGE/GX	O
models	O
did	O
improve	O
3D	B-Device
rendering	O
performance	O
,	O
but	O
by	O
the	O
time	O
of	O
their	O
introduction	O
they	O
were	O
still	O
unable	O
to	O
distinguish	O
the	O
ViRGE	B-Device
family	O
in	O
an	O
already	O
crowded	O
3D	B-Device
market	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Outside	O
of	O
3D	B-Device
rendering	O
,	O
ViRGE	B-Device
was	O
a	O
solid	O
performer	O
in	O
familiar	O
tasks	O
as	O
DOS	O
VGA	O
and	O
Microsoft	O
Windows	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Here	O
,	O
S3	O
's	O
substantial	O
experience	O
in	O
high-performance	O
Windows	O
acceleration	O
showed	O
,	O
with	O
ViRGE	B-Device
benchmarking	O
near	O
the	O
top	O
among	O
competing	O
DRAM-based	O
VGA	O
cards	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
OEM	O
PC	O
markets	O
,	O
ViRGE	B-Device
sold	O
well	O
as	O
a	O
direct	O
replacement	O
to	O
S3	O
's	O
highly	O
successful	O
Trio/64	O
family	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
ViRGE	B-Device
family	O
delivered	O
faster	O
Windows	O
acceleration	O
in	O
the	O
same	O
physical	O
footprint	O
as	O
its	O
predecessor	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
introduction	O
of	O
competing	O
hardware	O
,	O
3dfx	O
's	O
Voodoo	O
Graphics	O
and	O
Rendition	O
's	O
Verité	O
,	O
and	O
game	O
titles	O
such	O
as	O
Id	O
Software	O
's	O
popular	O
Quake	B-Application
engine	I-Application
,	O
resulted	O
in	O
an	O
industry-wide	O
shakeout	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
S3	O
,	O
along	O
with	O
other	O
previously	O
well-established	O
VGA	O
vendors	O
in	O
the	O
PC	O
market	O
,	O
were	O
unable	O
to	O
adapt	O
to	O
the	O
rapidly	O
evolving	O
PC	O
3D	B-Device
graphics	O
market	O
,	O
being	O
relegated	O
to	O
sell	O
into	O
market	O
segments	O
where	O
3D	B-Device
graphics	O
functionality	O
was	O
unimportant	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Although	O
the	O
ViRGE	B-Device
sold	O
well	O
in	O
the	O
OEM	O
market	O
,	O
poor	O
Direct3D	B-Application
performance	O
and	O
lack	O
of	O
OpenGL	B-Application
support	O
prevented	O
the	O
ViRGE	B-Device
from	O
competing	O
in	O
the	O
more	O
lucrative	O
3D	B-Device
graphics	O
segment	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Between	O
its	O
birth	O
in	O
1995	O
and	O
retirement	O
near	O
the	O
year	O
2000	O
,	O
the	O
ViRGE	B-Device
family	O
received	O
regular	O
upgrades	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
ViRGE/DX	O
boosted	O
the	O
performance	O
of	O
the	O
original	O
ViRGE/325	O
by	O
improving	O
perspective	O
correction	O
and	O
implementing	O
a	O
full-speed	O
trilinear	O
filter	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
ViRGE/GX	O
added	O
support	O
for	O
more	O
modern	O
SD/SGRAM	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
ViRGE/GX2	O
was	O
one	O
of	O
the	O
first	O
VGA	O
chipsets	B-Device
to	O
support	O
AGP	B-Architecture
,	O
although	O
the	O
level	O
of	O
support	O
extended	O
little	O
beyond	O
electrical	O
compliance	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Substantial	O
use	O
of	O
AGP	B-Architecture
's	O
feature-set	O
would	O
have	O
to	O
wait	O
until	O
the	O
Savage	B-Device
3D	I-Device
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
ViRGE	B-Device
was	O
ultimately	O
replaced	O
by	O
the	O
Savage	B-Device
3D	I-Device
in	O
S3	O
's	O
top-end	O
graphics	O
segment	O
in	O
1998	O
,	O
which	O
lacks	O
support	O
for	O
the	O
S3D	O
API	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
However	O
,	O
at	O
least	O
one	O
derivative	O
(	O
Trio3D	O
)	O
of	O
the	O
ViRGE	B-Device
remained	O
in	O
production	O
even	O
after	O
the	O
discontinuation	O
of	O
the	O
Savage	B-Device
3D	I-Device
.	O
</s>
<s>
2D	O
GUI	B-Application
acceleration	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Perspective	O
correction	O
,	O
flat	B-General_Concept
and	O
Gouraud	B-Algorithm
shading	I-Algorithm
.	O
</s>
<s>
Bilinear	O
and	O
trilinear	O
texture	O
filtering	O
,	O
MIP	B-Data_Structure
Mapping	I-Data_Structure
,	O
alpha	B-Algorithm
blending	I-Algorithm
,	O
and	O
video	O
texture	O
mapping	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Trilinear	O
filtering	O
is	O
full-speed	O
on	O
ViRGE/DX	O
and	O
later	O
,	O
termed	O
'	O
SmartFilter	O
 '	O
technology	O
.	O
</s>
