SYSTEMS

Transmeta Corporation, the leader in efficient computing, today announced that the company's energy efficient Efficeon processor has been chosen for the Orion Cluster Workstation from Orion Multisystems, Inc. The Cluster Workstation represents another new application for the Efficeon processor that takes full advantage of its high performance and low power consumption. Orion Cluster Workstations are a new category of computer systems that implement cluster technology to provide performance unmatched in a desktop and deskside form factor. These Cluster Workstations address an important need in research and industry for very high performance computers that can process intensive applications in a standard, small footprint system that can operate in a standard office environment. "We are pleased to welcome another early adopter of the Efficeon processor with the introduction of Orion's Cluster Workstation, a new and exciting dense-computing application, which benefits from the high-performance of Efficeon," said Matthew R. Perry, president and CEO at Transmeta Corporation. "Due to the low power consumption and low heat dissipation of Efficeon, it is an ideal choice for high-density applications, which require many processors confined within tight space constraints. We look forward to seeing these new products from Orion come to market in the fourth quarter of 2004." Historically, high-performance cluster computing has often mandated the use of large air conditioned rooms and demanded steep power requirements, which proved cost prohibitive for many companies. Because Transmeta's low-wattage Efficeon processor requires no active cooling and has a small footprint, it enables tight form-factor designs, which would have previously been impossible to create like the Cluster Workstation. Orion's Cluster Workstations boot with the push of a button and have the look, feel and ease-of-use of a personal computer. Additionally, the workstations have been designed to adhere to industry standards for typical clustering including: X86-compatibility, use of the Linux operating system, and standard parallel programming libraries for easy application development. "The power efficiency per watt of the Efficeon was instrumental in our decision to use Transmeta's high-performance processor," said Colin Hunter, president and CEO of Orion Multisystems. "Another key factor was its ability to handle the heavy computational loads required in cluster computing." "The need for high-performance computing in sectors such as entertainment, finance, and life sciences are fueling strong demand for a standard desktop supercomputer based on cluster technology," said Dr. Wu-Chun Feng, chief scientist at Orion Multisystems and award-winning researcher in efficient computing, high-performance networking, and bioinformatics at Los Alamos National Laboratory. "Power efficiency is a critical factor in developing cost-effective, small-footprint systems based on cluster technology for the mass market." The specifications for Orion's DS-96 deskside Cluster Workstation include 96 nodes with 300 Gflops peak performance (150 sustained), up to 192 gigabytes of memory and up to 9.6 terabytes of storage. It consumes less than 1500 watts and fits unobtrusively under a desk. Orion's DT-12 desktop Cluster Workstation has 12 nodes with 36 Gflops peak performance (18 sustained), up to 24 gigabytes of DDR SDRAM memory and up to 1 terabyte of internal disk storage. The DT-12 consumes less than 220 watts and is scalable to 48 nodes by stacking up to four systems. Orion's desktop model will be available in October 2004, and the deskside model will be available during the latter part of Q4. For more information about Orion Multisystems and its products, visit www.orionmultisystems.com. The Transmeta Efficeon processor is designed to provide power efficiency, design flexibility, performance-on-demand and low cost to meet the need of the next generation of mobile, wireless, and embedded devices. It includes three new high performance bus interfaces: an on-chip HyperTransport(TM) bus interface for increased input/output efficiency, an on-chip Double Data Rate (DDR) SDRAM memory interface for increased throughput, and an on-chip AGP graphics interface for high performance graphics solutions. These new interfaces allow Efficeon to achieve more work per clock, which results in greater energy efficiency and longer battery life for mobile computer users. The Transmeta Efficeon processor's dynamic LongRun(R) power management features and integrated architecture are designed to give system designers and marketers a wide range of choices in creating products that deliver added value, functionality, security, comfort, reliability, and cost savings to end users. Founded in 1995, Transmeta Corporation designs, develops and sells highly efficient x86-compatible software-based microprocessors that deliver a compelling balance of low power consumption, high performance, low cost and small size. Our products are valuable for diverse computing platforms demanding energy efficiency, low heat and x86 software compatibility. We also develop advanced power management technologies for controlling leakage and increasing power efficiency in semiconductor and computing devices. To learn more about Transmeta, visit www.transmeta.com.