3Dlabs Wildcat Graphics Optimized for AMD Athlon MP Processor; Unified Wildcat Driver Provides Acceleration of New 3DNow! Professional Instructions

Business Wire, July 18, 2001

Business Editors/High-Tech Writer

SUNNYVALE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--July 17, 2001

3Dlabs(R), Inc. Ltd. (NASDAQ:TDDD) today announced that it has developed an optimized Wildcat(TM) driver for the AMD Athlon(TM) MP processor. The Wildcat driver supports the AMD Athlon MP processor's Smart-MP multiprocessor capability as well as powerful additional instructions in 3DNow!(TM) Professional, thereby accelerating the 3D graphics pipeline between the AMD Athlon MP processor and the Wildcat graphics card.

The new, universal Wildcat driver is designed for the high-performance Wildcat 4110 and 4210, as well as the record-breaking Wildcat II 5110 and the new Wildcat II 5000 (announced yesterday). Drivers for Windows 2000 are expected to be available this month, with drivers for Windows NT later this quarter.

"3Dlabs' close collaboration with AMD in optimizing Wildcat graphics for the AMD Athlon MP processor will create a much larger market for Wildcat graphics accelerators, and expand the range of professionals who can experience the ultimate in workstation graphics performance," said Osman Kent, president and CEO of 3Dlabs. "Wildcat users will especially benefit from the new AMD 3DNow! Professional instructions, which will enable professionals to experience the full power of Wildcat's unrivaled graphics performance."

AMD's Athlon MP processor has achieved support from leading digital content creation (DCC) and CAD software vendors, making it an ideal platform for professionals using Wildcat graphics. With performance fully optimized for the AMD Athlon MP processor, Wildcat graphics is the clear choice for users of high-end graphics applications for Windows 2000.

"We are very excited that 3Dlabs has optimized their Wildcat graphics cards for the AMD Athlon MP processor," said Ed Ellett, vice-president of Workstation and Server Marketing for AMD. "Professionals using AMD Athlon MP processor-based workstations will experience new levels of performance on graphics-intensive applications."

About the AMD Athlon(TM) MP Processor

The AMD Athlon MP processor is a seventh-generation x86 processor designed for high-performance multiprocessing servers and workstations. It provides up to a 38 percent increase over widely available x86 multiprocessor-based systems on benchmarks such as WebBench, ServerBench and 3D Studio Max.

A key advantage of AMD's multiprocessing platform is Smart MP technology, which greatly enhances overall platform performance by increasing data movement between the two CPUs, chipset and memory system. Smart MP technology features dual point-to-point, high-speed 266MHz system buses with Error Correcting Code (ECC) support designed to provide up to 2.1GB per second per CPU of bus bandwidth in a dual-processor system. Smart MP technology also has an optimized Modified Owner Exclusive Shared Invalid (MOESI) cache coherency protocol that manages data and memory traffic in a multiprocessing environment. The AMD Athlon MP processor, with stable Socket A infrastructure and support for DDR memory technology, has a high performance full-speed cache with hardware data pre-fetch, a fully pipelined superscalar floating point engine, and an exclusive L2 Translation Look-aside Buffer (TLB). It also incorporates 3DNow! Professional technology, which has 52 additional instructions that extend AMD's 3DNow! technology, enabling smoother, richer and more lifelike images, more precise digital audio and an enriched Internet experience.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Department of Energy awarded AMD an ENERGY STAR(R) Certificate of Recognition for its energy-efficient processors, including the AMD Athlon MP processor. These processors help manufacturers meet stringent ENERGY STAR specifications for a variety of appliances, equipment and other products. Products with the ENERGY STAR label are designed to use less energy, save money and help protect the environment. AMD Athlon MP processors are manufactured using AMD's 0.18-micron copper process technology at Fab 30 in Dresden, Germany.

About 3Dlabs

Founded in 1994, 3Dlabs is a leading supplier of integrated hardware and software graphics accelerator solutions for workstations and design professionals. 3Dlabs develops silicon, boards and software drivers to create products that effectively meet the performance and quality needs of users who rely on graphics for their productivity. 3Dlabs sells its award-winning Oxygen and Wildcat products to leading system OEMs including Compaq, Dell, Fujitsu, Fujitsu-Siemens, Gateway, Hewlett-Packard, IBM, Hitachi, NEC, SGI and Sun Microsystems, and to the channel through an international distributor and reseller network and directly to end-users at 3Dlabs' online store. The performance-leading Wildcat and high volume Oxygen accelerator families target complementary segments of the Computer Aided Design (CAD), Digital Content Creation (DCC), geophysical, medical and visual simulation markets, resulting in the broadest range of professional graphics products in the industry today. 3Dlabs has operations in Alabama, California, Colorado, Massachusetts, Texas, Washington, Germany, Japan and the United Kingdom. For more information, please visit www.3dlabs.com.