Xi Graphics Teams up with ATI to Support new RADEON™ Cards

Generate highest OpenGL performance available on PC hardware running Linux

     DENVER – Xi Graphics, Inc., a six-year-old privately held firm that specializes in premium graphics support software for Linux and UNIX® systems, announced today the release of Linux graphics support for two members of the RADEON™ family of graphics cards - the RADEON™ 32 MB DDR and the RADEON™ 64MB DDR from ATI Technologies, Inc., a world leader in graphics accelerators. The new Linux driver is now available in Xi Graphics' current Linux Graphics Driver v1.1 product line to support the highly acclaimed RADEON cards. The new line of cards is ATI's high performance graphics solution for performance oriented consumer and commercial platforms, and are powered by ATI's RADEON Graphics Processing Unit or GPU. The new RADEON Linux Graphics Driver (LGD) from Xi Graphics - available for download from Xi Graphics ftp site - provides OpenGL-compliant 3D support as well as exceptionally fast 2D support.

     The downloadable LGD is in demo mode; a License Key can be purchased on-line from Xi Graphics' Web site for $89 that unlocks the timing mechanism in the driver, making it final product. In addition, License Key owners of the v1.1 RADEON drivers can download and unlock an alpha of the upcoming v2.1 of the RADEON driver that is scheduled to be released today. (Purchasers of v1.1 RADEON LGDs will be entitled to free upgrades to v2.1 when it is released as production product).

     "The RADEON cards are very impressive," remarked Jon Trulson, Xi Graphics' Engineering Manager. "Coupled with v2.1 of our new X server and OpenGL rendering pipeline, the performance numbers we are getting are truly amazing. They beat NVIDIA GeForce2 GTS numbers in most of the tests, a feat that we didn't think would be accomplished for some time with Linux," Trulson continued. "With the upcoming Linux 2.4 kernel, the numbers will improve even more."

     ViewPerf and x11perf benchmark results and additional information about the v1.1 and v2.1 (alpha) RADEON Linux Graphics Drivers are available from Xi Graphics' Web site at www.xig.com, along with comparisons of RADEON and NVIDIA's GeForce2 GTS™ cards. Limited RADEON benchmark numbers are included below.

     "ATI's support of Xi Graphics further demonstrates our commitment to become the leading hardware graphics vendor for Linux and help to ensure its success," said Kevin Oerton, Director Technical Marketing, ATI.Technical and pricing information on the new RADEON product line is available from ATI's Web site at www.ati.com.

     Selected RADEON 64MB DDR Benchmarks in the table below were run on an 866MHz system using both 3D Accelerated-X v1.1 and an alpha of 3D Accelerated-X v2.1. The results of ViewPerf tests were, at 32bpp:

About Xi Graphics Inc.
Xi Graphics Inc. provides premier graphics system software for Linux and Unix operating systems. Founded in 1994, Xi Graphics is a privately held corporation located in Denver, Colo. Xi Graphics provides retail products sold direct and through resellers and OEM’s worldwide. Products include free customer support via phone and e-mail. For more information, contact Xi Graphics at 800-946-7433 or visit their Web site at.

Xi Graphics is a member of the Video Electronics Standards Association, The Open Group’s X Project Team and a member of the board of Linux International. Xi Graphics’ innovative systems software enables Linux and UNIX to run on desktops, Laptops and Multi-head configurations with 2D and 3D hardware acceleration.

About ATI Technologies Inc.
ATI Technologies Inc., the world's largest supplier of 3D graphics and multimedia technology, designs, manufactures and markets innovative and award-winning multimedia solutions and graphics components for the personal computer, set-top box, consumer electronics appliance and e-appliance markets. An ISO 9002 company, ATI is the world's leading supplier of video and 2D/3D graphics accelerators to OEM and retail customers. Founded in 1985, ATI employs more than 1,800 people at headquarters in Thornhill, Ontario, and in offices in the United States, Germany, France, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Barbados, Malaysia, Japan and Hong Kong. ATI is a public company whose shares trade on the Toronto Stock Exchange and NASDAQ.