NEC Announces World's Fastest 3D Graphics Accelerator for Demanding Engineering and Computer Graphics Applications

Business Wire, June 30, 1999

SAN FRANCISCO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--June 30, 1999--

NEC today announced availability of the world's fastest 3D graphics accelerator for Windows NT(R) based workstations: the NEC TE4E Graphics Accelerator.

The new accelerator achieved a score of 30 on the industry-standard Viewperf ProCDRS-01(1) benchmark, eclipsing every other graphics accelerator.

The TE4 will be offered as part of NEC's Express5800 Series workstation solution, offering more than 2.5 time more performance than the current graphics adapters. The TE4 will be pre-installed on the high-end Express5800/55Wb and Express5800/56Wb workstations. The products are currently available only in Japan.

Graphics Performance - a Key Requirement for Next Generation NT

Workstations

NEC develop the new TE Series in response to two main customer requirements. First, customers require equal-or-better graphics performance as they migrate from traditional UNIX workstations to Windows NT. Many customers also require higher graphics performance due to the increased demands of new design and graphics applications.

"NEC is well qualified to meet customers growing requirement for high performance 3D," according to Ryuichi Kuki, General Manager for NEC's Workstation and Server division in Tokyo. "NEC is able to combine deep expertise in graphics engineering with state-of-the-art semiconductor process technology to deliver the world's fastest 3D graphics performance."

Leading Edge Architecture and Technology

The TE4 is based on high-performance CMOS VLSI chips developed by NEC. Key components include a special-purpose geometry engine, the GA400, with 64MB of local memory; and a new rendering engine, the PEC, which has data transfer speed of 3.6GB/second to the frame memory and 64MB of texture memory.

NEC has also developed a custom window controller chip, the WILL, to provide parallel processing of display data. This allows customers to install multiple graphics adapters to dramatically increase performance. Multiple board versions of the TE4 will be available later this year.

The TE4 architecture is designed to provide high-speed display, high-capacity data processing, and scalability to provide future performance enhancements.

Support From Major Application Providers

The TE4E is designed to provide optimum performance on demanding CAD applications such as Dassault Systemes' CATIA, SDRC Master Series, and Parametric Technologies PRO/ENGINEER, as well as next generation animation and computer graphics applications such as Alias/Wavefront's MAYA, AVID Technology's SOFTIMAGE, and Newtek's LightWave3D. These and other industry leading 3D applications are now certifying the TE4E.

TE4 Makes U.S. Debut at Intel/Microsoft Workstation Leadership

Forum

NEC will demonstrate the new product at Workstation Leadership Forum `99, which will be held in San Francisco from June 29 to July 1. Also, NEC will demonstrate at its private show, NEC 3D WAVE Digital Innovation '99 on July 16 at Hotel Pacific Shinagawa in Tokyo.

About NEC Corporation

NEC Corporation (NASDAQ: NIPNY) (FTSE: 6701q.l) pioneered the concept of C&C, the integration of Computers and Communications, and is the only company in the world to be counted among top ranking corporations spanning the wide range of fields essential for this vision of multimedia: computers, communications and electron devices. Employing in excess of 150,000 people around the world, NEC saw net sales in fiscal year 1998-99 amount to 4,759 billion yen (approx. US$40 billion). For further information, visit the NEC home page at: http://www.nec-global.com

NEC and Express5800 are trademarks of NEC Corporation. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.

(1) Viewperf ProCDRS-01 is a standard benchmark test managed by OpenGL Performance Characterization (OPC).