SYSTEMS

SANTA CLARA, CA -- Sun Microsystems, Inc. (Nasdaq: SUNW) today introduced the Sun(TM) XVR-500 graphics accelerator, a powerful, entry-level addition to its complete line of high performance graphics solutions for workstations and servers. Earlier this year, Sun unveiled the Sun XVR-1000, a graphics accelerator for the high-end Personal Visualization market. The Sun XVR-500 graphics accelerator doubles the geometry performance and improves texture mapping performance by 50 percent over Sun's current entry-level offerings. The new accelerator is Sun's most affordable high performance graphics card for MCAD/MCAE, GIS and entry-level visualization applications, providing advanced 3D graphics performance and texture mapping capabilities which allow users to work more efficiently with complex data sets. "The Sun XVR-500 graphics accelerator fills out Sun's graphics family nicely with a high quality, high performance entry-level product based on one of the industry's top graphics architectures from 3Dlabs," says Jon Peddie, president of Jon Peddie & Associates. "By designing its own graphics technology for high-end Personal Visualization customers as well as using best-of-breed solutions from outside sources, Sun is able to offer its customers a better range of workstation- and server-based graphics solutions based on price, performance, quality and functionality." Professional-Level Graphics Performance and Features for Sun Blade Workstations and Sun Fire Servers The Sun XVR-500 graphics accelerator is based on 3Dlabs' Wildcat architecture and delivers high performance 3D graphics with a range of professional-level functionality and 3D image quality, important factors for customers using MCAD/MCAE, GIS and entry-level visualization applications. Sun's XVR-500 graphics accelerator is supported by the Sun Blade workstation family and Sun Fire V880 server line, and offers an array of new or improved features, including: Dedicated texture memory: 16 MB of hardware-based memory is dedicated to texture mapping operations. The board also provides 32 MB of dedicated frame buffer memory and 32-bit Z-buffer support. Dedicated frame buffer and texture memory helps to avoid compromised performance, an issue to which single memory architectures are susceptible. Additionally, the Sun XVR-500 graphics accelerator's 32-bit Z-buffer provides over 250 times greater precision for three dimensional graphics compared to 24-bit architectures. High performance graphics acceleration: Provides up to 8 M triangles per second and up to 166 Mpixels per second texture fill rate. This is twice the geometry and 50 percent better texture mapping performance than Sun's current entry level 3D graphics offerings. In addition to fast geometry and texture fill rate performance, the dedicated memory architecture improves the user's ability to work with complex designs and models, and allows for the analysis of larger data sets at interactive speeds. Stereoscopic video graphics support: At 960 x 680, 1152 x 900 and 1280 x 800 resolutions up to 120-Hz refresh rates. Customers in oil and gas can use stereoscopic graphics for immersive applications, which enhances data comprehension in three dimensions. Frame lock: Helps enable customers to connect and synchronize up to four displays running in stereo to ensure proper viewing. Synchronized displays are common in design environments, improving productivity and design cycles by allowing users to draw to multiple displays. High resolution 3D display: Supports resolutions up to two megapixels (1920 x 1080, double-buffered/Z-buffered), 16:9 HDTV format. Customers can take advantage of large-screen and high resolution monitors. Enhanced realism: Delivers up to 24 hardware-accelerated multiple light sources, adding realism to an image. Hardware-based fog, smoke and cloud support result in maximum speed and realism when using fog, smoke or clouds in an image. Multiple display capabilities: Offers support for up to 4 XVR-500 boards in Sun Fire V880 servers, and in Sun Blade 1000 and Sun Blade 2000 workstations. Multiple graphics accelerators can run one application across all displays or multiple applications per display(s), allowing users to take advantage of more screen real estate. Professional color output: 24-bit color and 10-bit RAMDAC video output enables professionals to precisely match color parameters at full 24-bit color quality. Pricing and Availability The XVR-500 graphics accelerator is available today for $1,195.00 list price U.S., and is orderable direct from Sun or its authorized resellers worldwide. For additional information visit www.sun.com/desktop.