Press Release
- 2003
ATI Delivers Most Significant Software Update in Company’s History
Catalyst® 3.8 delivers ultimate in performance, stability and innovation
Wednesday October 8, 2003
MARKHAM, Ontario/ Munich,
Germany– ATI Technologies Inc. (TSX: ATY, NASDAQ: ATYT)
today announced the release of Catalyst® 3.8, a new unified
software suite update that delivers exciting levels of performance,
stability and innovation to the Radeon® family of desktop
graphics products. The first software suite of its kind to hit
the 3D market, Catalyst has set an unprecedented record for updates
- with a public commitment of twelve times a year.
“ATI is on a mission to deliver the most stable, performance-driven
and feature-rich software possible,” said Ben Bar-Haim,
Vice President, Software, ATI Technologies Inc. “Key industry
support and innovative features like ATI Overdrive and VPU Recover
help us raise the software performance bar, deliver new and exciting
experiences to all PC users and further extend ATI’s leadership
in the industry.”
"One of the biggest problems with Microsoft® Windows® has
been stability and one of the biggest causes of instability,
until now, has been graphics drivers," said Rob Enderle,
President and Principal Analyst, Enderle Group, a firm focused
on emerging personal technologies. “ATI’s successful
progress in addressing this problem is impressive. The 3.8 version
of Catalyst now represents the state-of-the-art in terms of providing
a stable, reliable, and feature-rich PC graphics solution".
- The new features of Catalyst 3.8 software suite include:
- ATI’s unique patent pending feature, Overdrive™,
which will enable Radeon 9800 XT users to safely maximize the
performance level of their graphics processor. Overdrive operates
by dynamically over-clocking the graphics processor, while always
ensuring that it stays at a safe temperature;
-
VPU Recover, a patent-pending innovative software recovery feature
that enables the display driver to gracefully recover from graphics
hardware hangs. This feature also offers a direct feedback and
bug report mechanism and marks a major step towards crash-proof
PCs;
-
The introduction of SmartShader™ Effects, a feature that
delivers high-end shader effects to older games that lack this
functionality. Gamers can now experience their favorite games
in a totally new visual environment with stunning new shaders
such as Inverse-Color, Sketch, Stylized Black & White and
ASCII;
-
A new sleek re-designed 3D control panel that allows users to
create 3D game profiles for their Direct3D and OpenGL® applications.
Using profiles, users will no longer have to reconfigure every
setting each time they use a different 3D application;
- Dedicated Linux support with aggressive driver releases, six
times per year;
-
The expansion to ATI’s Multimedia Center™ with the
addition of a new player application and EazyLook™, offers
unparalleled value to built by ATI Radeon® and All-in-Wonder™ users;
-
The introduction of an easy-to-use and intuitive version of Hydravision™.
With a redesigned user interface, Hydravision Basic Edition will
provide users with the essential features required to configure
and easily use a multiple display setup.
While ATI is already the industry leader in driver quality,
ATI continues to evolve and improve upon previous releases through
the use of a comprehensive beta testing program and active feedback
from users.
For more information on the Catalyst beta testing
program please visit: http://www.ati.com/products/catalyst/betatester.html or click on http://apps.ati.com/driverfeedback/index.asp to submit
feedback to ATI regarding Catalyst. The Catalyst 3.8 software
suite is available for download today at www.ati.com.
Copyright 2003 ATI Technologies Inc. All rights reserved. ATI and ATI product and product feature names are trademarks and/or registered trademarks of ATI Technologies Inc. All other company and product names are trademarks and/or registered trademarks of their respective owners. Features, pricing, availability and specifications are subject to change without notice.
About ATI Technologies Inc.
ATI Technologies Inc. is a world leader in the design and manufacture
of innovative 3D graphics and digital media silicon solutions.
An industry pioneer since 1985, ATI is the world's foremost visual
processor unit (GPU) provider and is dedicated to deliver leading-edge
performance solutions for the full range of PC and Mac desktop
and notebook platforms, workstation, set-top and digital television,
game console and handheld markets. With 2002 revenues in excess
of US $1 billion, ATI has more than 2,000 employees in the Americas,
Europe and Asia. ATI common shares trade on NASDAQ (ATYT) and the
Toronto Stock Exchange (ATY).
Contact Information
For media or industry analyst support, visit our Web
site at http://www.ati.com
For Information:
Rubeena Hussein, PR Manager Europe, ATI Technologies (Europe) GmbH, phone:
+49 89 66 515 570, rhussein@ati.com
Friederike Weiss, Press Relations Specialist, ATI Technologies (Europe) GmbH,
phone: +49 89 66 515 325, fweiss@ati.com
