ATI Technologies Inc., a world leader in the supply of graphics, video and multimedia solutions, announced today it has taken performance leadership in the PC graphics industry with the introduction of its next generation RADEON™ processors, the world’s most powerful and innovative family of graphics chip and board technologies offering the ultimate in pure gaming power, 3D quality of the highest order and unparalleled price-performance. Building on the performance leadership demonstrated by its second-generation RADEON chip and board technologies announced today, and founded on the heritage of its first-generation RADEON products, ATI’s new family of graphics processors delivers unprecedented performance.

Designed with the most advanced graphics technology in the world, the RADEON 8500 delivers up to 33 percent higher performance than the nearest competitive graphics processor (GeForce 3). Major technological advancements include TRUFORM™, an innovative rendering technology that helps to deliver the smoothest, most natural 3D images ever seen on existing and next-generation 3D games; and SMARTSHADER™, an advanced technology that takes advantage of the new Microsoft DirectX 8.1 API (application programming interface) to enable more complex and realistic texture and lighting effects without sacrificing performance, including supporting Pixel Shaders Version 1.4.

The RADEON 8500 is powered by the most advanced graphics technology in the world, and features 64MB of DDR (double data rate) memory, digital flat panel (DVI) support as well as dual monitor and video output, and DVD (digital versatile disc) video playback. The first gaming card with complete hardware support for DirectX 8.1, the RADEON 8500 will be available in late September and has an MSRP of (US) $399.