Diamond Multimedia's Stealth II G460 Receives Top Awards PC; Computing Magazine and PC World Magazine Rate the Stealth II G460 as an Industry Leading AGP Graphics Card.

SAN JOSE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--July 13, 1998--Diamond Multimedia Systems Inc. (Nasdaq:DIMD), a leader in interactive multimedia acceleration, Monday announced that Diamond's Stealth II G460 AGP mainstream graphics accelerator has received both PC Computing magazine's five star rating "Best Award" and PC World magazine's "Best Buy" honor for top AGP graphics accelerators in the upcoming August 1998 issues.

PC Computing's review rated Diamond's Stealth II G460 with five stars for best 3D features and usability for both business graphics and 3D applications. The review stated, "Presto, a smooth installation wizard makes setting up the Diamond Stealth II drivers and bundled software a cinch," and "It masterfully handled 3D tasks and received rave reviews from our discerning jury."

The Stealth II G460, based on the Intel740 processor, was rated against seven other AGP graphics boards on the market including one other board based on the Intel740 processor technology. Additionally, the Stealth II G460 received PC Computing's top pick, video hardware "A-List" award for graphics accelerators in the July 1998 issue.

The "A-List buzz" referred to the Stealth II G460 as, "A killer 2D and 3D accelerator for $129? We'll take ten." PC Computing's "A-List" is based on the editors' top picks in 100 hardware, software and Internet categories. PC World magazine tested the Stealth II G460 against 10 other AGP boards and gave the Stealth II G460 the "Best Buy" award, stating that, "The Stealth II's image quality in 3D games was among the best we encountered...The Stealth II produced images in a hurry -- it was about 18 percent faster than an average AGP card in our game tests and about 24 percent faster in the Caligari modeling test, which measures AGP texturing performance."

"We are pleased that our Stealth II G460 is gaining recognition in the industry as a leading 2D/3D solution for PC consumers and business users. Our Intel740-based accelerator gives PC users what they want in graphics acceleration," stated Scott Vouri, vice president and general manger of core graphics at Diamond Multimedia.

"We are confident that these are just the start of many industry awards the Stealth II G460 mainstream accelerator will receive."

The Stealth II G460

Diamond's Stealth II G460, powered by the Intel740 graphics controller, is a high performance graphics accelerator for PC users who expect visually accurate 2D/3D for today's hottest business and gaming software.

The Stealth II G460 is a complete AGP 2X accelerator that uses Intel's advanced "HyperPipelined 3D" feature set: Precise Pixel Interpolation for outstanding visual effects, Parallel Data Processing for more efficient use of the graphics pipeline and Direct Memory Execution for fast storage and execution of large 3D textures from system memory.

The true AGP 2X feature supports today's wealth of texture-rich PC games and business applications written to DirectX 5.0, including Direct 3D and OpenGL APIs. In addition, Diamond's Stealth II G460 features a robust set of 3D functions, including bilinear and trilinear filtering, MIP mapping, edge anti-aliasing, flat and Gouraud shading, perspective correction and Z-buffering for extraordinarily rich, detailed 3D imaging.

It is also equipped with a 203 MHz DAC supporting resolutions as high as 1600x1200 and true color resolutions up to 1152x864 to deliver blazing 2D speed and vibrant colors for desktop publishing and general business software.

For the multimedia enthusiast, Diamond's Stealth II G460 graphics accelerator in conjunction with the Diamond DTV 2000 TV tuner, can provide scaleable, full-screen TV and video capture on the PC. The Stealth II G460 is available for a U.S. estimated retail price of $129.95.

Stealth II G460 Bundled with Top Software Diamond's Stealth II G460 features an impressive combination of the latest 3D business software and games in the U.S. retail configuration including: Fremont SE, a 3D visual data analysis and presentation tool by Portola Dimensional Systems that provides 3D rendering and animation of Excel spreadsheets; WorldView Professional, a 3D animation package for PowerPoint by Intervista; Incoming, a powerful 3D game by Rage Software (a full 3D AGP version); MGI's PhotoSuite SE; Adobe Acrobat Reader; BackWeb Software and Internet Explorer.

The Stealth II G460 also includes Diamond Multimedia's popular InControl Tools desktop utility software for Windows 95/98 and Windows NT, which includes performance bar setting, gamma correction and the ability for users to customize their desktop (e.g., resolutions, refresh rates and color depths) on the fly -- without rebooting.

About Diamond Multimedia

Diamond Multimedia is driving the interactive multimedia market by providing advanced solutions for home, business and professional desktop computer users, enabling them to create, access and experience compelling new media content from their desktops and through the Internet.

Diamond accelerates multimedia from the Internet to the hard drive with products that include the Stealth and Viper(R) series of media accelerators, the Monster series of entertainment 3D and sound accelerators, the Fire series of professional 3D and SCSI  accelerators, and the Supra(R) series of modems.

Diamond's common stock is traded on the Nasdaq Stock Market under the symbol DIMD, and its Web site address is www.diamondmm.com.

How to Contact Diamond Multimedia

There are many ways to reach Diamond for sales support, technical assistance, driver updates and general information:

Internet Web Site: http://www.diamondmm.com Diamond Multimedia's Headquarters and Multimedia Division:

408-325-7000; Fax: [phone] Communications Division (Supra brand modems)

Main Phone Number: 360-604-1400; Fax: [phone] European Division (Germany): [phone]; (UK): [phone];

(France) [phone] Korean Office (Seoul): [phone]; Fax: [phone] Japanese Office (Tokyo): [phone]; Fax: [phone] ASEAN Office (Singapore): [phone]; Fax: [phone] Hong Kong Office: [phone]; Fax: [phone] Australian Office (Sydney): [phone]; Fax [phone] Swedish Office: [phone]; Fax [phone] Product Support (Voice), United States: 541-967-2450;

Europe (Germany) [phone]; Europe (UK) [phone]; Europe (France) [phone]; TDD/TTY Support 541-967-2451 Product Support (Fax), United States: 541-967-2401;

Europe (Germany) [phone]; Europe (UK): [phone]; (France) [phone] Pre-sales Information: 1-800-468-5846 Investor Relations: 408-325-7476; 1-888-474-3463 (U.S. and Canada) 24-Hour Fax-On-Demand Service: 1-800-380-0030 FTP site: ftp.diamondmm.com BBS: 541-967-2444 (to 33.6 Kbps);

Europe (Germany) BBS at [phone] (to 28.8 Kbps) or [phone] (ISDN); Europe (UK) at [phone] (to 33.6 Kbps)

NOTE: Monster 3D and Supra are either trademarks or registered trademarks of Diamond Multimedia Systems Inc. Monster is a registered trademark of Monster Cable. Viper is a registered trademark of Directed Electronics Inc., Used under License. All other trademarks referenced are the service mark, trademark or registered trademark of their respective manufacturers. This announcement relates to products whose introductions are in North America. The product name, contents, prices and availability may differ elsewhere in the world according to local factors and requirements.

Except for historical information contained herein, the matters set forth in this news release, such as statements relating to the company's ability to successfully exploit technological and market developments, the timing and success of new product introductions by the company and its competitors, and the company's ability to invest in new technologies and to enhance its existing systems are forward-looking statements that are subject to risks and uncertainties, including the impact of competitive products and pricing and alternative technological advances, the timely and successful development and market acceptance of new products and upgrades to existing products, and other risks as detailed from time to time in Diamond Multimedia's SEC filings, including its most recent Forms 10-K and 10-Q.

    CONTACT: Diamond Multimedia System Inc., San Jose
               Mary Medeiros, 408/325-7350
               [e-mail]
               Dawn Tappy, 408/325-7419
               [e-mail]
                     or
              Faiola Davis Public Relations, Los Angeles
               Andrea Sausedo, 213/933-4959
               [e-mail]