Diamond Multimedia's Stealth 3D 2000 Chosen by Micron Electronics, Inc. for Line of Desktop Computer Systems; 3D Technology Delivers Advanced Performance for Multimedia, Games and Business Applications on the PC

Business Wire, April 26, 1996

SAN JOSE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--April 26, 1996--Diamond Multimedia Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ: DIMD), a leader in personal computer connectivity and multimedia, today announced that Micron Electronics, Inc. has chosen its new Stealth 3D 2000 multimedia accelerator for a line of high-performance personal computers for consumer and business use.

Micron will begin shipping its line of Millennia and Home MPC personal computers incorporating the Stealth 3D 2000 to the direct market channel early in the second quarter of 1996. "3D brings a new level of realism to the PC that was previously only available on graphics workstations. Entertainment and productivity applications will become more useful and fun to use," said Jeff Moeser, director of desktop product marketing at Micron Electronics. "We selected Diamond's Stealth 3D 2000 because they are among the first to offer an all-in-one, high-performance 3D multimedia accelerator card which delivers amazingly fast 2D performance, software MPEG playback and 3D animation."

"Micron's choice to team-up with Diamond confirms our belief that the market potential for 3D graphics on the PC is rapidly growing," said Scott Holt, senior vice president of sales for Diamond Multimedia.

The Stealth 3D 2000 is the first in a new line of next generation multimedia accelerators that deliver the world's fastest 2D graphics as well as 3D animation and MPEG-1 digital video playback acceleration for PCs running Microsoft's Windows 95, Windows 3.1x, Windows NT 3.51 and DOS operating systems. Designed for systems with a PCI bus, the new Stealth 3D 2000 accelerates a new realm of computer applications featuring realistic 3D animation and video such as multimedia applications and games.

The Diamond Stealth 3D 2000 utilizes S3 Inc.'s ViRGE 64-bit DRAM graphics and video accelerator chip, based on the company's newest architecture. The ViRGE engine is an advanced single-chip solution for interactive 3D rendering, 2D GUI and video acceleration with an integrated 135MHz RAMDAC and clock synthesizer. The product provides 256 colors at resolutions up to 1600 x 1200 as well as true color (16.7 million colors) at resolutions as high as 800 x 600. The maximum supported refresh rate is 120 Hz.

High resolution and high color-depths are extremely important for PC users running desktop publishing, document image processing and CAD applications on large monitors. The fast 2D acceleration also improves the performance of spreadsheet, presentation and other business application software.

Micron Electronics, Inc., manufactures and markets electronic products for a wide range of computing and digital applications. Micron Electronics common stock is traded on the Nasdaq Stock Market under the symbol MUEI.

Diamond Multimedia

Diamond Multimedia designs, markets and supports high-performance PC and Macintosh multimedia solutions for the home, business and professional markets. Products include the Stealth, Diamond EDGE 3D and Viper series of multimedia accelerators, the Fire GL series of professional 3D and CAD accelerators, and the Supra series of fax/modems. Diamond also markets ISDN adapters, sound cards, multimedia and Internet upgrade kits and digital video editors.

Headquartered in San Jose, Diamond has sales, marketing and technical facilities in Vancouver (Wash.), Tokyo, Starnberg (Germany), Paris and Slough (U.K.) Diamond's products are sold through regional, national and international distributors as well as to major computer retailers, mass merchants and OEMs worldwide. Diamond's common stock is traded on the Nasdaq Stock Market under the symbol DIMD.

How to Contact Diamond Multimedia

There are many ways to reach Diamond for sales support, technical assistance, driver updates and general information:

Diamond Multimedia's Main Phone Number: 408/325-7000; Fax: 408/325-7070 Diamond Multimedia's Communications Division (Supra product line) Main Phone Number: 360/604-1400; Fax: 360/604-1401 Diamond-SPEA Division Main Phone Number (Germany): 49-8151-2660 Product Support Voice: 408/325-7100; Supra: 541/967-2490 Product Support Fax: 408/325-7171; Supra: 541/967-2401; SPEA: 49-8151-266150 Tech information line for Supra: 800/774-4965 For information on Diamond products: 800/468-5846; Supra: 800/727-8772 24-Hour Fax-On-Demand Service: 800/380-0030; Supra: 541/967-0072 America Online (Keyword: DIAMOND; Email: SUPRACORP2) CompuServe (GO DIAMOND); Supra: (GO SUPRA); SPEA (GO SPEA) The Microsoft Network: Find DIAMOND FTP sites: ftp.diamondmm.com, or Supra: ftp.supra.com Internet Web sites: http://www.diamondmm.com or Supra: http://www.supra.com or SPEA: http://www.spea.com BBS numbers at 408/325-7080 (to 14.4 Kbps) or 408/325-7175 (to 28.8 Kbps) Supra BBS: 541/967-2444 SPEA BBS at 49-8151-266241 (to 14.4 Kbps) or 49-8151-12921 (to 28.8 Kbps) or 49-8151-78001 (ISDN) -0-

Note to Editors: EDGE is a registered trademark of The EDGE Interactive Media, Inc. in the US, UK, France, and Germany and is a trademark elsewhere, used under license.