SANTA CLARA, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--April 6, 1999--NVIDIA(TM) Corporation (Nasdaq:NVDA) announced today that Hewlett-Packard Company has chosen NVIDIA's RIVA TNT(TM) 3D graphics processor as an option for the HP Pavilion PC build-to-order program.
The RIVA TNT is made available via the Viper V550 from Diamond Multimedia Systems (Nasdaq:DIMD). End-users can purchase the HP Pavilion PC, complete with the RIVA TNT-based Viper V550, at Circuit City retail stores through an electronic kiosk.
"HP has a history of providing state-of-the-art home PCs," said Jeff Fisher, vice president of worldwide sales at NVIDIA. "Now, with the addition of the RIVA TNT graphics accelerator, HP will continue to push the envelope as end-users expand their use of 3D applications in the home."
HP uses the HP Pavilion PC Series to continue its successful build-to-order program in Circuit City retail stores. Customers can personalize their PCs with a choice of graphics accelerator, CPU, memory, disk space, the presence of a CD-ROM or DVD drive, monitors and other accessories. This build-to-order method also allows consumers to design their HP Pavilion PCs to fit within a specific budget by enabling them to view the prices of their customized PCs before submitting their orders.
"With our custom build-to-order program at Circuit City's nationwide, we are able to meet the customer's demand for one of the best graphics accelerators available," said Claudia Cameron, business development manager for HP's Home Products Division. "The RIVA TNT-based Diamond Viper V550 helps us deliver industry-leading technology for the build-to-order program."
The build-to-order program began in the summer of 1998 and is currently available nationwide at more than 500 Circuit City stores. End-users are able to use the interactive kiosk's touch screen to learn about, select and order a desired PC configuration. Upon submitting the order electronically, customers can expect the HP-built PC to be shipped directly to them within approximately seven to 10 business days.
"Our TNT-based Viper V550 graphics accelerator combined with HP's Pavilion computers, provides today's PC users with remarkable graphics technology for business and gaming applications," said Todd Reddick, director of multimedia products at Diamond Multimedia. "Multimedia users are searching for powerful systems and Diamond is excited to partner with NVIDIA and HP to deliver such a feature-rich system to today's PC consumers."
The Award-Winning Viper V550
Diamond Multimedia's Viper V550 retail configuration, available in AGP 2X and PCI versions, features NVIDIA's RIVA TNT processor, the first single-chip 128-bit 3D processor able to process two pixels per clock cycle to provide true single-pass multi-texturing for exceptional 3D realism. Scaleable resolution support of up to 1920x1200, ultra-fast fill rates up to 180 million pixels-per-second and an enhanced dual 32-bit color 3D pipeline all contribute to the Viper V550's spectacular performance and visual quality output.
The retail version of Diamond's Viper V550 also delivers a full hardware triangle set-up engine, full screen anti-aliasing, anisotropic filtering, 24-bit Z-buffer, 8-bit stencil buffer, bump mapping, MPEG playback and more. With an integrated 250MHz DAC, Diamond's new Viper V550 graphics accelerator is fully optimized for the industry's most popular Application Programming Interfaces (APIs), including OpenGL(TM) and Microsoft's Direct3D(TM).
The Viper V550 ships with Zoran's SoftDVD(TM) software. The Viper V550 is available for a U.S. estimated retail price (ERP) of $149.95 through a wide variety of retail and e-commerce partners, as well as directly from Diamond's Online Store at diamondmm.com
NVIDIA Processors
The RIVA family of 3D/2D processors, the RIVA TNT 2(TM), RIVA TNT(TM), RIVA 128ZX(TM) and the RIVA 128(TM) is the first family of high performance processors for the performance mainstream PC market. The RIVA processors utilize a 128-bit pipeline to support the computational throughput required for current and future graphically intense applications. The NVIDIA Vanta(TM)3D/2D processor is the first in a family of 3D processors designed for the enterprise PC market.
Based on the award-winning RIVA TNT2 architecture, the NVIDIA Vanta processor is designed for Windows 2000 and the burgeoning market for enterprise visualization applications. By leveraging its graphics technology and massive gate counts, all NVIDIA processors are able to deliver stunningly realistic, high frame rate 3D, along with benchmark winning 2D, VGA and video acceleration in single chip solutions. NVIDIA processors are optimized for both Direct3D(TM) and OpenGL(TM).
About NVIDIA
NVIDIA Corporation (Nasdaq:NVDA) designs, markets and sells a complete family of award-winning 3D processors that deliver industry-leading performance and visual quality for a broad range of PC applications, including: enterprise visualization, e-commerce, e-business, entertainment and education. Corporate headquarters are located in California: 3535 Monroe Street, Santa Clara, California 95051. For more information visit the Company's web site at nvidia.com.
Except for the historical information contained herein, this press release contains forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties and actual results may differ materially. Factors that may effect NVIDIA's actual results include the impact of competitive products and pricing, technological changes in products and components, the ability to timely and successfully develop and produce in volume new products and modifications to existing products, market acceptance of new products and modifications to existing products and conditions in the PC market. Further information on factors that could affect the financial results of NVIDIA is included in the Registration Statement on Form S-1, dated January 22, 1999, filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Notes to Editors: Please note that the recommended way of writing NVIDIA, RIVA 128, RIVA 128ZX, RIVA TNT and RIVA TNT2 is all CAPITALS.
NVIDIA, the NVIDIA logo, RIVA TNT, RIVA TNT2 and NVIDIA Vanta are trademarks of NVIDIA Corp. RIVA, RIVA 128 and RIVA 128 ZX are trademarks of NVIDIA Corp. and STMicroelectronics. Other company and product names may be trademarks of the respective companies with which they are associated.
CONTACT:
NVIDIA Corporation
Derek Perez, 408/615-2630
dperez@nvidia.com
or
Hewlett-Packard Company
Ray Aldrich, 408/343-5627
ray_aldrich@hp.com
KEYWORD: CALIFORNIA
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