Diamond Multimedia Announces Optimizations for Intel's Pentium III Xeon Processor; Diamond's Fire GL1 Drivers Take Advantage of Streaming SIMD Extensions.

SAN JOSE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--March 17, 1999--Diamond Multimedia Systems, Inc. (Nasdaq:DIMD), a leader in PC multimedia and Internet connectivity, today announced that the Diamond Fire GL1 professional graphics accelerator is designed to take full advantage of the Streaming SIMD Extensions included with Intel's Pentium III Xeon processor.

The Diamond Fire GL1, coupled with the new Pentium III Xeon processor and instruction set, delivers a powerful NT workstation solution for the professional digital content creation market.

"The Diamond Fire GL1 accelerator is optimized for Intel's Streaming SIMD Extensions which boost the performance of the Pentium III within the 3D geometry pipeline," said Ian Cartwright, vice president and general manager of Diamond Multimedia's Professional Graphics Division. "By supporting the new instruction set, the Fire GL1 accelerator leverages the on-chip capabilities of the Xeon processor to provide enhanced 3D graphics performance on the Windows NT platform."

"IBM's IntelliStation Z Pro workstation, including the Pentium III Xeon processor, offers a new level of 3D performance on the desktop," said Mike Kerr, worldwide marketing director, IBM Professional Workstations. "We are pleased that the Diamond Fire GL1 can take advantage of the Streaming SIMD Instructions to provide unparalleled 3D graphics acceleration."

Delivering up to 15 million anti-aliased vectors per second, the Diamond Fire GL1 is the first accelerator that is able to keep pace with the on-board geometry acceleration provided by the Pentium III Xeon processor. The Fire GL1 also includes specialized software drivers that auto-detect for Streaming SIMD Extensions and leverage the 3D geometry capabilities of the processor. In a comparison of Intel processor-based systems, the Diamond Fire GL1 yielded a performance increase of 60 percent in ProCDRS and CDRS tests conducted with the Streaming SIMD Extensions enabled (for a graphical representation, visit "Press Center" at www.diamondmm.com).

Featuring IBM's first graphics chipset and the first 256-bit engine for the Windows NT platform, the Diamond Fire GL1 accelerator brings outstanding price-performance graphics to NT workstations. The new Diamond Fire GL1 accelerator, priced at $995 MSRP with 32MB of memory, is optimized for multi-processor systems with multi-threaded OpenGL drivers. Product shipments of both PCI and AGP configurations are expected to begin in April 1999.

Intel's Pentium III processor- and Pentium III Xeon processor-based systems with the Diamond Fire GL1 accelerator will be on display at CeBIT '99 in Hannover, Germany from March 18 through March 24, at the Diamond Multimedia booth No. A47 in Hall 21.

About Diamond Multimedia

Diamond Multimedia is a leader in PC multimedia and Internet connectivity,

providing advanced products that enable desktop computer users to create, access and experience compelling, new media content from their PCs and through the Internet. Products include the Rio series of Internet audio appliances, the Stealth and Viper(R) series of video accelerators, the Monster series of 3D gaming accelerators, the Fire series of professional graphics accelerators, the Supra(R) series of modems, and the HomeFree line of home networking products. Diamond's common stock is traded on NASDAQ under the symbol DIMD, and its web site address is http://www.diamondmm.com. The Company's Internet music portal site is at http://www.RioPort.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 Sites: http://www.diamondmm.com and

http://www.RioPort.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] Latin America Office (Miami): 305/593-8777; Fax: [phone] Mexico Office (Guadalajara): 523/110-1144; 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 24-Hour Fax-On-Demand Service: 1-800/380-0030 Investor Relations: 408-325-7476; 1-888/474-3463 (U.S. and Canada) FTP site: ftp.diamondmm.com BBS: Europe (Germany) BBS at [phone] (to 28.8 Kbps) or

[phone] (ISDN); Europe (UK) at [phone] (to 33.6 Kbps)

Note to Editors: HomeFree, Monster 3D, Rio, Shotgun, SpeedStar and SupraSonic 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 press 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.