NVIDIA Quadro4 200 NVS Professional Graphics Boards and hp Workstation W4000 Chosen to Aid Seismic Data Processing and Management by Paris-based CGG

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Andrew Humber (ahumber@nvidia.com)
NVIDIA Corporation
+44 (118) 903 3015

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

PARIS, FRANCE—5TH DECEMBER 2002—NVIDIA Corporation (Nasdaq: NVDA), the worldwide leader in visual processing solutions, today announced that its NVIDIA Quadro®4 200 NVS products have been chosen as the graphics component for the hp Workstation W4000 ordered by Compagnie Générale de Géophysique (CGG) (SRD: 12016 – NYSE: GGY).

Based in Paris, France, CGG is a leading supplier of geophysical services and products with an international reputation for gathering high quality seismic data from around the world, both on land and offshore, on behalf of oil and gas companies.  Processing the seismic data is a complex task due to the large volumes of data that must be processed in order to generate accurate images of the earth’s subsurface for the subsequent identification of gas and oil.  Control of the data quality requires high-performing graphics computational power.
 
“These new systems, based on the hp workstations and NVIDIA Quadro4 200 NVS boards, provide our geophysicists with greater visualisation capabilities,” said Guillaume Cambois, executive vice president for Data Processing and Reservoir Services at CGG.  “They can now improve processing quality control and visualise literally terabytes of data much more efficiently.”
 
“This design win with HP and CGG is a great example of how NVIDIA nView™ multiple monitor support can give companies a competitive edge when it comes to managing large amounts of data in technology-intensive 2D/3D environments,” said Alain Tiquet, marketing director EMEA at NVIDIA.  “The close partnership between HP and NVIDIA will allow us to provide best of class technology and superior service to CGG in their business going forward.”

The hp Workstation W4000 is based on the Intel® Pentium® 4 Northwood chip, with 512KB of cache, running at 2GHz.  The NVIDIA Quadro4 NVS professional boards, as well as the hp Workstation W4000, are fully compatible with CGG’s seismic processing software, GeoclusterTM, and offer full Linux support for CGG’s systems that are based on the Red Hat 7.3 operating system.

About NVIDIA nView Technology
NVIDIA nView multi-display technology provides a revolutionary way to multi-task and process information more easily.  Instead of stacking application upon application within the confines of a single display, nView enables users to spread their work across multiple displays and control how that data is displayed and managed.

nView helps users to maximise productivity through advanced desktop and application management. nView also provides increased efficiency on a single monitor by enabling multiple desktops, quicker access to hidden applications with transparency and rollups, and hotkeys for access to all nView functions.

About HP
HP is a leading global provider of products, technologies, solutions and services to consumers and businesses.  The company’s offerings span IT infrastructure, personal computing and access devices, global services and imaging and printing.  HP completed its merger transaction involving Compaq Computer Corp. on May 3, 2002. More information about HP is available at www.hp.com.

About Compagnie Générale de Géophysique
The Compagnie Générale de Géophysique group is a global participant in the oilfield services industry, providing a wide range of seismic data acquisition, processing and geoscience services and software to clients in the oil and gas exploration and production business. It is also a global manufacturer of geophysical equipment. Web site :  www.cgg.com
 

About NVIDIA
NVIDIA Corporation is a market leader in visual computing technology dedicated to creating products that enhance the interactive experience on consumer and professional computing platforms.  Its graphics and communications processors have broad market reach and are incorporated into a wide variety of computing platforms, including consumer digital-media PCs, enterprise PCs, professional workstations, digital content creation systems, notebook PCs, military navigation systems and video games consoles.  NVIDIA is headquartered in Santa Clara, California and employs more than 1,400 people worldwide.  For more information, visit the company’s Web site at www.nvidia.com.

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 "Certain Business Risks," for a fuller discussion of these and other risks and uncertainties.

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