S3 ViRGE

The S3 Virtual Reality Graphics Engine (ViRGE) graphics chipset was one of the first 2D/3D accelerators designed for the mass market.

Introduced in 1995 by then graphics powerhouse S3, Inc., the ViRGE was S3's first foray into 3D-graphics. The S3/Virge was the successor to the successful Trio64V+. ViRGE/325 was pin compatible with the Trio64 chip, retaining the DRAM-framebuffer interface (up to 4MB), and clocking both the core and memory up to 80 MHz. In Windows, Virge was benchmarked as the fastest DRAM-based accelerator of the era. The VRAM-based version, ViRGE/VX, was actually slower in lower resolutions, but had a faster RAMDAC to support high-resolution modes not available on the 325.

Part of S3's marketing plan for the ViRGE included the "S3D" standard, stating that members of the ViRGE family carried the S3D Graphics Engine. Games that supported ViRGE directly put this logo on their box so owners of the 3D card would know that it would run as well as possible on their computer. And, despite its lackluster 3D-speed, the ViRGE did receive some S3D enhanced games, due in large part to the brand prestige S3 carried in this period: ViRGE-enhanced versions of Terminal Velocity, Descent II, Tomb Raider and MechWarrior 2.

With the successful launch of the Sony PlayStation home game-console, pressure was on the PC market to incorporate hardware that could compete in the area of realtime 3D graphics rendering, something that software-based host-CPU rendering could not do on its own. However, realtime 3D graphics rendering was new and unfamiliar territory for S3 and many of its hardware competitors. With a sizable chunk of ViRGE's hardware real-estate already devoted to other key functions (such as the VGA-controller, 2D/BITBLT engine, RAMDAC, PCI and memory interface), and the need to serve traditional 2D applications, the resulting 3D functionality was both limited and slow.

When performing basic 3D-rendering with only texture mapping and no other advanced features, ViRGE's pixel throughput was somewhat faster than the best software-optimized (host-based CPU) 3D-rendering of the era, and with better (16bpp) color fidelity. But when additional rendering operations were added to the polygon load (such as perspective-correction, Z-depth fogging, and bilinear filtering), rendering throughput dropped to the speed of software-based rendering on an entry-level CPU, which was unacceptable to most gamers. Due to this abysmal 3D-rendering performance, the ViRGE earned the dubious distinction of being the world's first "graphics decelerator." (Ironically, 3D-rendering on the high-end VRAM based ViRGE/VX (988) was even slower than the less expensive ViRGE/325, due to the VX's slower core and memory clock rates.) The upgraded ViRGE/DX and ViRGE/GX models did improve 3D rendering performance, but by the time of their introduction they were still unable to distinguish the ViRGE family in an already crowded 3D market.

...
Wikipedia