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 two new additions to Radeon®, the world’s most powerful and innovative family of graphics chip and board technologies, the entry-level Radeon® 7000 and the value-line Radeon® 7200 desktop graphics boards.

With manufacturers’ suggested retail prices (MSRPs) under (US) $100, the new products are designed to offer value-minded customers solid graphics performance.

The Radeon 7000 desktop graphics board, based on the Radeon 7000 chip (previously known as the Radeon VE chip), is a 32MB (megabytes) DDR (double data rate) board, providing solid 2D and 3D performance, excellent visual quality and DVD playback. At an MSRP of (US) $79, the Radeon 7000 graphics card offers more features and value than any other graphics card in this price range. (1)

The Radeon 7200 is a 64MB SDR (single data rate) graphics board, and offers such features as hardware transformation, clipping and lighting (T&L) geometry, Charisma Engine™, and an on-chip hardware DVD decoder. The Radeon 7200 is based on the Radeon 7200 chip (previously known as the Radeon chip). It has an MSRP of (US) $99.

Both the Radeon 7000 and Radeon 7200 are available immediately and will support Microsoft’s Windows XP operating system, which will be available on October 25, as well as Windows 2000, Windows Me and Windows 98.

Other members of the Radeon® desktop PC graphics processor family include the recently-announced Radeon® 8500 and Radeon® 7500 desktop PC graphics boards. With Radeon 7000 and 7200, the expanded Radeon® family will offer ATI customers with solid solutions at every price and performance level.

“The Radeon 7000 graphics board is ideal for users, both at work and at home, who are using their computers for Internet access, e-mail and applications with graphics requirements. The Radeon 7200 will allow home and small business users and consumers to handle graphic-intense applications with ease,” said Hangmei Chen, Product Manager, Desktop Marketing, ATI Technologies Inc. “The features found in these two new value-oriented products, each priced below (US) $100, were previously only available in premium-priced cards. These two additions to the Radeon family will enhance ATI’s complete product offering for our consumers looking for good deals for the Christmas season.”

The Radeon family of graphics chip and board technologies offers consumers the most complete range of solutions available from any graphics manufacturer in the world as well as the ultimate in pure gaming power, 3D quality of the highest order and unparalleled price-performance. For example:

Radeon 8500: Designed with the most advanced graphics technology in the world, the Radeon 8500 delivers up to 32 percent higher performance than the nearest competitive graphics processor. (2) Major technological advancements include TruForm™, an innovative rendering technology that helps to deliver the smoothest, most natural 3D images ever seen on existing and next-generation 3D games; and SmartShader™, an advanced technology that takes advantage of the new Microsoft DirectX 8.1 API (application programming interface) to enable more complex and realistic texture and lighting effects without sacrificing performance; and

Radeon 7500: This graphics processor offers an ideal combination of performance, innovative 3D features and real value for mainstream commercial and consumer computer users. It delivers up to a 60 percent improvement in performance compared to the previous generation of Radeon high-performance processors. The Radeon 7500 targets the performance mainstream, offering a level of performance not seen at its price point.

⁽¹⁾ Based on comparisons with comparable nVidia MX400 and nVidia MX200 graphics boards, featuring MSRPs of (US) $129 and (US) $99, respectively as of the date of this release.
⁽²⁾ Based on 3Dmark 2001 benchmarks performed in September 2001 (Radeon 8500 scored 7416, GeForce3 scored 5627)

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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, workstation, 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.
(905) 882-2600 Ext. 8809
pmacdona@ati.com

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

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

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

For investor relations support, please contact:

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