OPTi's Viper-UMA first to adopt emerging VESA-UMA standard architecture; VESA members endorse VUMA.

Viper-UMA chipset is based on the Unified Memory Architecture standard soon to be ratified by the Video Electronics Standards Association (VESA).

OPTi chaired the VESA standards committee that defined VUMA. A number of VESA members, including ATI Technologies, Inc., Cirrus Logic, S3 Incorporated, and Trident Microsystems, Inc. and others, were instrumental in the development of the VUMA standard.

"The collaborative efforts between OPTi and other graphics suppliers such as ATI, Cirrus Logic, S3, and Trident, demonstrate the necessity of maintaining an open industry which enables OEMs to have multiple component and supplier choices," said Raj Jaswa, OPTi's president. "Graphics coupled with UMA core logic chipsets will allow OEMs to obtain low cost, high performance systems," Jaswa added.

Henry Quan, vice president of ATI Technologies, Inc., stated, "Unified Memory Architectures, like the OPTi Viper-UMA, hold the promise of creating a new, lower-cost platform for the PC industry. We think this has broad appeal to both the consumer and business markets, potentially reducing end-user pricing by as much as $100."

"Unified Memory Architecture (UMA) systems have the potential to significantly reduce end-user costs and help alleviate DRAM memory availability problems," said S3's Sunil Sanghavi, group director of marketing, home and advanced systems. "S3 has been working on the development of UMA-based products with industry leaders like OPTi to jump-start the emerging UMA market. The OPTi Viper-UMA, in conjunction with forthcoming UMA products from S3, is designed to enable UMA products to become a force in the PC market."

Richard Silverman, Trident's vice president of marketing, noted that Trident's recently announced TGUI9682 64-bit GUI and graphics accelerator will support OPTi's Viper-UMA chipsets for all desktop UMA, multimedia home PC applications, and non-UMA designs. "We feel that OPTi's significant market position in core logic chipsets complements Trident's strong video and graphics technology. Together, we expect that Trident and OPTi will deliver superior UMA solutions to this emerging market."

OPTi Inc. (NASDAQ:OPTI), founded in 1989, is the leading supplier of core logic and multimedia sound and graphics chipsets to the personal computer industry. In 1994, OPTi shipped more than nine million chipsets to leading personal computer and board manufacturers worldwide. The Viper-M chipset is the leading multimedia enhanced core logic chipset for Pentium-class PCI-desktop systems and the OPTi Viper-N chipset is the leading solution for Pentium PCI-based mobile applications. Viper-UMA is the third member of the Viper family of core logic chips. For more information on OPTi's products, contact 408/980-8178 extension 8850. -0-

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