Press Release - Archives 2001

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MARKHAM, Ontario - ATI Technologies Inc. (TSE:ATY, NASDAQ:ATYT), a world leader in the supply of graphics, video and multimedia solutions, today introduced the Radeon® 7500 graphics board, an outstanding combination of performance, innovative 3D features and real value for a wide range of home and business users.

With its strong Radeon heritage, the Radeon 7500 offers consumers a mainstream solution with a set of standard features typically associated with premium-level graphics boards. Available in September 2001 with an MSRP (manufacturer’s suggested retail price) of just (US) $199, the Radeon 7500 features a level of performance not seen before at this price point. It incorporates a core clock speed of 270MHz (megahertz) and a memory clock speed of 230MHz, 64MB DDR (dual data rate) and flexible display support including VGA (video graphics array) and digital flat panel (DVI) monitors as well as TV out. It delivers up to a 60 percent improvement in performance compared to the previous generation of Radeon high-performance processors (1)

“ATI has, once again, set a new standard for graphics processor technologies with the introduction of the Radeon 7500 graphics board,” said Deanna Perkins, Product Manager, Radeon 7500, Desktop Marketing, ATI Technologies Inc. “The overall value proposition associated with the Radeon 7500 – processor speed, 3D performance and price – is unparalleled. It is the perfect solution for the 70 percent of users in the mainstream segment.”

“The lion’s share of the market for graphics products is represented by mainstream users who are looking for a combination of price and performance, yet with features that enhance visual reality – and ATI has hit the mark better than anyone else historically; and it looks like history will repeat itself with ATI’s latest offering, the Radeon 7500,” said Dr. Jon Peddie, President, Jon Peddie Associates. “With memory bandwidth up to 8.8GB/sec, performance that has only been seen on the current generation high-performance boards, the Radeon 7500 packs a lot of punch for a mainstream price.”

The Radeon 7500 uses ATI’s patented HyperZ™ technology to boost effective memory bandwidth by 20 percent. As a result, the Radeon 7500 can access up to 8.8GB/sec (gigabytes per second) of effective memory bandwidth. With memory bandwidth increasingly becoming the largest barrier to performance in today and tomorrow’s most advanced applications, the combination of HYPERZ and high speed DDR memory is crucial to realizing the full potential of the graphics processor.

Radeon 7500 supports Microsoft’s Windows 98®, Windows Me®, Windows 2000® and upcoming Windows XP® operating system environments as well as DirectX 8.0 and OpenGL 1®.2.

It also incorporated the following features:

• Hydravision™ affords the Radeon 7500 the most advanced multi-monitor management software in the industry. Hydravision allows users to define up to nine multi-monitor configurations. Work can be spread across the entire workspace or applications can be configured to one monitor or the other. Favorite features can be assigned hot keys for instant access;
  
  
• Charisma Engine™ combines one of the industry 's fastest geometry engines with revolutionary techniques for bringing 3D characters to life. The geometry engine supports full transformation, clipping and lighting at 40 million triangles per second processing capability. Charisma Engine supports cutting-edge character animation features such as advanced vertex skinning and key frame interpolation;
  
  
• Pixel Tapestry™ combines one of the industry 's fastest rendering engines with an unprecedented set of 3D special effects. The chip 's ability to process up to 3 textures concurrently means unsurpassed performance in accelerating the coming wave of multi-textured game content. Because of its rendering capability, Radeon 7500 enables full performance in 32-bit color, making 16-bit color obsolete; and
  
  
• Video Immersion™ advances ATI 's historic leadership in digital video with such features as on-chip Motion Compensation, iDCT adaptive de-interlacing. The Radeon 7500 incorporates advanced video technology inherited from ATI 's video-oriented set-top box and consumer electronics products.
  

(1) Based on 3DwinBench benchmark tests performed in July 2001. For more information on the benchmarking process, visit www.ZDNet.com

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Company Background

Founded in 1985, ATI Technologies Inc. is a world leader in the supply of graphics, video and multimedia solutions for the personal computer and Mac platforms. The pioneer, innovator and market leader in the graphics industry, ATI provides cutting-edge technologies for the PC, set-top box, game console and other consumer appliances markets. The Company has more than 1,900 employees supporting customers from its headquarters in Markham, Ontario, Canada, as well as from offices in Barbados, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Ireland, Japan, Malaysia, the United Kingdom and the United States. ATI common shares trade on NASDAQ (ATYT) and the Toronto Stock Exchange (ATY).

Contact Information

For media or industry analyst support, please visit our Web site at http://www.ati.com or contact:

Patricia Macdonald,
Public Relations Manager,
Desktop,
ATI Technologies Inc.,
at (905) 882-2600 Ext. 8809 or pmacdona@ati.com

Derek Baker,
Counsellor,
BenchMark Porter Novelli at
(416) 422-7158 or dbaker@bmporternovelli.com

John B. Challinor II APR,
Director, Public Relations,
ATI Technologies Inc.,
at (905) 882-2600 Ext. 8815 or jchallin@ati.com

Anne Ferguson,
Senior Counsellor,
BenchMark Porter Novelli,
at (416) 422-7154 or aferguson@bmporternovelli.com

For investor relations support, please contact:

Janet Craig,
Director,
Investor Relations,
ATI Technologies Inc.,
at (905) 882-2600, Ext. 2631 or jcraig@ati.com