New SunReady Graphics Accelerator Costs 40% Less; Tech-Source's Raptor GFX-8P Makes Upgrading Affordable.

ORLANDO, Fla.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Aug. 25, 1998--Tech-Source, Inc., one of the world's leading manufacturers of high-resolution graphics accelerators for Sun Microsystems workstations, has announced its newest low cost graphics accelerator, the Raptor GFX-8P.

The new Raptor GFX-8P has the same 8 MB of frame buffer memory and simultaneous 24-bit and 8-bit application support as the Raptor GFX-8M but has been reengineered to cost 40% less. At the $499 suggested list price, the Raptor GFX-8P hits a new price/performance point for Sun Ultra 5/10/30/60 users. Production deliveries will begin mid-September 1998.

"We've been working with our network of more than one-hundred Value Added Resellers and are excited about the potential of this new product and price point," said Michael J. Tobias, President and CEO of Tech-Source. "The Raptor GFX-8P leverages the volume pricing of the PC market and combines it with the quality and stability of the Sun platform. It is the natural progression from the Raptor GFX-4M and GFX-8M that have been shipping for more than a year now. The Ultra 5 and GFX-8P combination is ideal for replacing aging X terminals."

The Raptor GFX-8P works with any PCI-I/O based Sun System, and is compatible in multi-headed systems with Sun's motherboard graphics on the Ultra 5 and Ultra 10. It drives both Sun and VGA monitors, making it easy and inexpensive to add multiple monitors or re-deploy existing video displays. The card supports displays up to 1280 x 1024 resolution in simultaneous 24-bit and 8-bit mode. When configured in 8-bit only mode, the card will support displays up to 1920 x 1200 resolution.

Multiple Raptor GFX-8P cards can be used in a system, one per PCI slot, to drive up to four simultaneous displays. The card's short PCI form factor allows it to fit in the short slot available on the Ultra 5.

Additionally, the Raptor GFX-8P is designed for windowing applications that require 24-bit color or higher resolutions, and simultaneously runs both 8-bit pseudo color and 24-bit true color visuals on the screen. Tech-Source's cards run X Windows applications in hardware and offer extremely fast 2-D performance. Applications requiring OpenGL, XIL and XGL will function properly but will not be accelerated in hardware.

By using a highly integrated 2-D graphics controller and 8MB of SGRAM, the Raptor GFX-8P is extremely cost effective. Features such as optimizing for Sun's Visual Instruction Set (VIS) make the Raptor GFX-8P ideal for lowering the cost of complex imaging and visualization applications. The Raptor GFX-8P exploits both dedicated graphics hardware and system-wide resources, including memory and processor, to relieve bottlenecks found in many systems. The resulting performance increase allows for more effective work on complex 2-D graphics.

Since its inception in 1982, a singular vision, "The Network Is The Computer(tm) " has propelled Sun Microsystems, Inc. (NASDAQ: SUNW) to its position as a leading provider of hardware, software, and services for establishing enterprise-wide intranets and expanding the power of the Internet. With more than $10 billion in annual revenues, Sun can be found in more than 150 countries and on the World Wide Web at http://www.sun.com.

For the last decade, Tech-Source, Inc., has been providing advanced solutions for OEMs, integrators, government contracts, VARs and large corporate users. Tech-Source, Inc., is one of the world's leading suppliers of graphics accelerators for applications requiring ultra-high resolution such as air traffic control, seismic and satellite imaging.

For additional product information, visit the Tech-Source Web site at http://www.techsource.com.

CONTACT: Arlene Johnson, CBR PR

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