SI
SI
discoversearch

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor.  We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community.  If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.
Technology Stocks : S3 (A LONGER TERM PERSPECTIVE) -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?


To: Bill Lin who wrote (7100)11/3/1997 12:13:00 PM
From: Bill Lin  Read Replies (2) | Respond to of 14577
 
3Dfx Interactive Announces the Revolutionary Voodoo 2 Graphics Chipset; New
3D Accelerator Boasts 3X Boost in Performance, Expected to Hit Retail Q1 '98

SAN JOSE, CALIF. (Nov. 3) BUSINESS WIRE -Nov. 3, 1997--3Dfx Interactive
today announced plans for the introduction of their new standard in 3D
acceleration, Voodoo 2 Graphics(TM).

A generational leap beyond the Company's original award winning Voodoo
Graphics chipset, Voodoo 2 will be available at the consumer level in
the first Quarter of 1998 and will retail for under $300.

Voodoo 2 is an expandable architecture with a base configuration of a
192-bit memory architecture and 2.2 Gigabytes per second of memory
bandwidth, delivering over 50 BOPS (Billions of Operations per Second).
This configuration delivers an incredible 3 million triangles per
second and 90 million dual-textured, bilinear-filtered, per-pixel
MIP-mapped, alpha-blended, Z-buffered pixels per second, over three
times the performance of the current Voodoo Graphics.

Voodoo 2 contains a full floating-point hardware triangle setup unit
for maximum triangle throughput on Pentium, Pentium Pro and Pentium II
powered systems. Voodoo 2 is also an AGP-capable technology designed
to utilize the higher bandwidth available through AGP and will support
3D games with resolutions up to 1024 X 768.

"We believe that Voodoo 2 will not only change the way people play
games, but the way that people design games," said Greg Ballard,
President and CEO, 3Dfx Interactive. "The original Voodoo Graphics and
Voodoo Rush chipsets opened people's eyes to the possibilities of 3D
gaming and the response has been overwhelming. We have once again set
the standard by which all other 3D accelerators will be judged."

Since Voodoo 2 maintains full software compatibility with Microsoft's
Direct3D, 3Dfx's Glide and OpenGL, current 3Dfx accelerated games will
run on the new chipset. This new level of technology will not require
the end user to purchase new software, as the current catalog of over
150 3Dfx enhanced titles will not only run on Voodoo 2, but will
receive a noticeable improvement in performance.

Two technologies developed specifically for 3Dfx's arcade customers
have now been made available to PC game players. The basic chipset for
Voodoo2 contains two texture processing units that simultaneously apply
two textures to a triangle for single-pass, single-cycle rendering of
effects such as trilinear filtering, sophisticated lighting, spotlights
and detail texturing. Dual texture units effectively double the
texture fill rate and provide dramatic performance increases in games
such as id Software's Quake and Quake 2, which will run upwards of 110
frames per second.

Customers will also be able to purchase a second board of the same type
and connect the two for even faster gameplay. Voodoo 2 will
automatically detect a second chipset and will begin operating in
Scanline Interleave (SLI) mode, where the first chipset draws the even
scanlines of a frame while the second chipset draws the odd, reducing
the amount of work per chipset by half and allowing each card to run at
twice the speed. This high-end configuration expands to a 384-bit
memory architecture with 4.3 Gigabytes per second memory bandwidth,
achieving an amazing 180 million pixels per second.

3Dfx Interactive, a publicly traded company (NASDAQ:TDFX), develops
high performance, cost-effective 3D media processors, software and
related technology that are designed to enable a highly immersive,
interactive and realistic 3D experience across interactive electronic
entertainment platforms -- personal computers, coin-operated arcade
systems and location-based entertainment ("LBE"). Current 3Dfx
Interactive products include the Voodoo family of accelerator chipsets,
Voodoo Graphics and Voodoo Rush. Visit the company on the Web at
3dfx.com .

This press contains projections and other forward-looking statements
regarding future events or the future financial performance of the
Company. Such statements are just predictions and actual events or
results may differ materially.

Many important factors could cause the actual results to differ
materially from those contained in the Company's projections or
forward-looking statements, including the risk that new products will
not perform as intended, that delays will occur in the completion of
development and introduction of new products, that the market for 3D
interactive electronic entertainment will not continue to develop or
grow or will grow more slowly expected, or if the market does grow that
the Company's existing and new products will continue to achieve market
acceptance, the risk software titles compatible with the Company's
products will not be published and available in a timely manner, will
not be of high quality or will not achieve market acceptance.

We refer you to documents that the Company files from time to time with
the Securities and Exchange Commission, in particular the Company's
Registration Statement on Form S-1 in connection with the Company's
recently completed initial public offering and the section entitled
"Risk Factors." 3Dfx Interactive, Voodoo Graphics(TM) and Voodoo
Rush(TM) are trademarks of 3Dfx Interactive. All other names
trademarks of their respective holders.