For Further Information Contact:  
  
Derek Perez
Director of Public Relations
NVIDIA Corporation
(408) 486-2512
dperez@nvidia.com   
  
For Immediate Release

SANTA CLARA, CA – December 20, 2000 – NVIDIA® Corporation (Nasdaq: NVDA) today announced the recent certification of its workstation graphics line, Quadro2™, as compatible with the most widely used software programs for digital content creation (DCC) and computer-aided design (CAD). As they continually gain broad industry support, the Quadro2 Pro™ high-performance workstation solution and the Quadro2 MXR™ mainstream workstation solution now boast verified compatibility with industry-leading software programs including AutoCAD®, 3ds max™, Maya®, Microstation, Pro/ENGINEER, SoftIMAGE®|3D and more. The most recent testing and certification processes also included verification of the excellent performance delivered to these applications by the Quadro2 family.

"The Quadro family of products is only a year old but has completely changed the dynamics of the workstation industry," explains Dan Vivoli, senior vice president of marketing at NVIDIA. "These certifications, from the industry's premier independent software vendors (ISVs), underscore the success of the latest Quadro2 GPU's and validates the phenomenal growth and acceptance of the NVIDIA solutions in workstation markets."

The certification process includes an exhaustive number of tests performed, which vary from vendor to vendor. For example, some tests are performed on the graphics product only; other tests exercise an entire graphics workstation. Passing certification guarantees software and hardware compatibility resulting in the highest level of support, quality, and performance.

According to Pia Rieppo, principal analyst for workstations with Gartner Dataquest, "A hardware player in the workstation space greatly benefits from vendor certifications for leading applications such as 3ds max, Maya, Pro/ENGINEER and others. This broad acceptance gives designers and engineers more choice and peace of mind, and ultimately improves the overall health and competitive environment in the industry."

The following DCC applications were tested and certified by the ISV: 3ds max by Discreet™, Lightwave from Newtek, Maya by Alias|Wavefront™, SoftIMAGE and XSI from SoftIMAGE. For CAD, NVIDIA's Quadro2 line has been certified by: AutoCAD from Autodesk, CDRS®, 3DPAINT®, and Pro/ENGINEER™ from Parametric Technology Corporation (PTC), I-DEAS™ from SDRC®, Microstation™ from Bentley, Patran® from MSC®, SolidDesigner from Co-Create, Solid Edge™ and Unigraphics from Unigraphics Solutions®, and SolidWorks® from SolidWorks®. Also certified were 3D Analyst™ and ArcView™ geographic information systems (GIS) software from ESRI™, and IMAGINE and VirtualGIS™ from ERDAS®.

"Discreet is pleased to certify compatibility of NVIDIA's Quadro2 cards with both our current and upcoming 3ds max software," said Phillip Miller, senior director, Discreet Software Products. "Discreet works closely with NVIDIA to ensure their products work well with ours and that our products take full advantage of NVIDIA card capabilities. Discreet has greatly advanced the interactive 3D graphic capabilities of 3ds max 4, and the Quadro2 Pro is well suited to take advantage of those advancements." For more information on Discreet 3ds max 4, visit www.discreet.com/animation.

In addition to vendor certifications, NVIDIA quality assurance engineers carry out exhaustive compatibility, performance, and functionality verification tests. The applications that have been in-house tested with the Quadro2 include all of the previously mentioned certified applications plus: 3D Studio VIZ® from Discreet, Catia from Dassault, combustion® from Discreet, Houdini™ from Side Effects™, Inventor™ from Autodesk, Lightscape™ from Discreet, Marquee® from Avid Systems, Mirai and Nendo from Winged Edge Technologies, trueSpace® from Caligari, and many more.

Jon Beaulier, enterprise platform program manager for PTC, explains, "Since Pro/ENGINEER is one of the most widely used mechanical design software programs in the world, we conduct a strict certification process. We tested systems featuring Quadro2 graphics and found they not only passed our certification, but demonstrated solid price/performance for Pro/ENGINEER users." For more information about PTC, visit www.PTC.com.

About Quadro2
The NVIDIA Quadro2 Pro and Quadro2 MXR radically redefine the price/performance ratios for workstation solutions. Full support of the Microsoft® Windows® and Linux® operating systems make the Quadro2 a great fit in every design environment. The Quadro2 Pro delivers unprecedented 3D and 2D performance for the engineering professional. Its unmatched 1.0G pixels per second rendering power and 31M triangles per second geometry processing power make it the optimal choice for the most demanding design environments. The Quadro2 MXR delivers advanced workstation capabilities and includes NVIDIA's TwinView™ multiple display architecture. Mainstream professionals all benefit from the 400M pixels per second rendering power, 25M triangles per second geometry processing power, and 2.93GB per second memory bandwidth of the Quadro2 MXR.

NVIDIA sells its Quadro2 solutions through key system manufacturers including Dell, Compaq, Hewlett-Packard, IBM and SGI, as well as through its channel partner, ELSA, Inc.

About NVIDIA
NVIDIA Corporation (Nasdaq: NVDA), based in Santa Clara, California., is the global leader in advanced graphics and multimedia processing technology for the consumer and professional computing markets. Its 2D, 3D, video and multimedia capabilities make NVIDIA one of the premier semiconductor companies in the world. NVIDIA offers a wide range of products and services, delivering superior performance and crisp visual quality for PC-based applications such as manufacturing, science, e-business, entertainment, and education.

This news release contains forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results or outcomes to differ materially from those contemplated by the forward-looking statements. Factors that could cause or contribute to such differences include, but are not limited to, risks relating to the completion of the contemplated transaction, including the risk that required regulatory clearances or shareholder approval might not be obtained in a timely manner or at all. In addition, statements in this press release relating to the expected benefits of the contemplated transaction are subject to risks relating to the timing and successful completion of technology and product development efforts, integration of the technologies and assets of NVIDIA Corporation and 3dfx Interactive, unanticipated expenditures, changing relationships with customers, suppliers and strategic partners and other factors described in the most recent Form 10-Q, most recent Form 10-K and other periodic reports filed by NVIDIA and 3dfx, with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
  
 
Certain statements in this press release, including the statements relating to the Company's performance expectations for NVIDIA's family of products and expectations of continued revenue growth, are forward-looking statements that are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause results to be materially different than expectations. Such risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, manufacturing and other delays relating to new products, difficulties in the fabrication process and dependence of the Company on third-party manufacturers, general industry trends including cyclical trends in the PC and semiconductor industries, the impact of competitive products and pricing alternatives, market acceptance of the Company's new products, and the Company's dependence on third-party developers and publishers. Investors are advised to read the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K and quarterly reports on Form 10-Q filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, particularly those sections entitled "Factors Affecting Operating Results," for a fuller discussion of these and other risks and uncertainties. 
 
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Registered trademark NVIDIA® Corporation, 2000. All company and/or product names are trademarks and/or registered trademarks of their respective manufacturers. Features, pricing, availability, and specifications are subject to change without notice.