NEC Japan Begins Shipments of AMD-K6®-2 Processor with 3DNow!™ Technology-Based Systems for Business & Home Computing Market

AMD Processor-Based PCs Now Available from Japan's No. 1 OEM

SUNNYVALE, CA -- 1/28/1999 -- AMD today announced that NEC Japan, the largest supplier of desktop PCs to the Japanese commercial market, plans to begin shipments of PCs based on AMD-K6®-2 processors with 3DNow!™ technology. The AMD processors will be included in the NEC Mate NX-R sold into the small and medium business computing market and the VALUESTAR NX-R Series aimed at the home computing market.

With the addition of NEC to its customer base, AMD counts eight of the world's top 10 PC OEMs as its customers. In addition to NEC, AMD customers include Compaq, IBM, Toshiba, Hewlett-Packard, Packard Bell NEC, Acer and Fujitsu.

Mate NX-R Series models feature a 333-MHz AMD-K6-2 processor, 64MB RAM, 4.3 GB hard disk drive, 32X CD-ROM and the Microsoft® Windows® 98 operating system installed.

VALUESTAR NX-R Series models are powered by 400-MHz and 333-MHz AMD-K6-2 processors and are equipped with 64MB RAM, up to 8.4GB hard disk drives, 32X CD-ROM and 56K fax modem.

About the AMD-K6®-2 Processor
The AMD-K6-2 processor with 3DNow! technology delivers leading-edge, sixth-generation performance for today's demanding Microsoft Windows compatible home and office applications. The 9.3-million-transistor AMD-K6-2 processor is manufactured on AMD's 0.25-micron, five-layer-metal process technology using local interconnect and shallow trench isolation at AMD's Fab 25 wafer fabrication facility in Austin, Texas. The AMD-K6-2 processor is packaged in a 100-MHz Super7™ platform-compatible, 321-pin ceramic pin grid array (CPGA) package using C4 flip-chip interconnection technology.

About 3DNow! Technology
3DNow! technology is the first innovation to the x86 processor architecture that significantly enhances 3D graphics, multimedia, and other floating-point-intensive PC applications to enable a superior visual computing experience. 3DNow! is a set of 21 instructions that use SIMD (Single Instruction Multiple Data) and other performance enhancements to open the performance bottleneck in the 3D graphics pipeline between the host CPU and the 3D graphics accelerator card. 3DNow! works hand-in-hand with leading 3D graphics accelerators to achieve faster frame rates on high-resolution scenes, improved physical modeling of real-world environments, realistic 3D graphics and images, and theater-quality audio and video.

With 3DNow! technology, more powerful hardware and software applications can bring a new level of 3D performance and realism to Windows compatible PCs. Microsoft's DirectX 6.0 API (Application Programming Interface) is optimized for 3DNow! technology. Applications written to the DirectX 6.0 API seamlessly take advantage of the fast geometry processing power of 3DNow! technology. 3DNow! technology is compatible with today's existing x86 software. Software applications optimized for 3DNow! technology include gaming titles from Microsoft, id Software, Epic Megagames, and Rage and productivity software offerings from IBM, Viewpoint DataLabs, and Pegasus. New optimized titles continue to be added.