ATI launches enterprise stream computing initiatives

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Teams with key organizations such as PeakStream, Inc. and AMD to drive commercial adoption of accelerated processing technologies

MARKHAM, ONTARIO, Sep 29, 2006 (CCNMatthews via COMTEX News Network) -- Recognizing the tremendous value that accelerated processing holds for businesses around the world, ATI Technologies Inc. (TSX:ATY)(NASDAQ:ATYT) today announced initiatives around enterprise stream computing, dedicated to driving commercial adoption of stream computing, initially targeting the US$9 billion high performance computing market(1). Along with software platform provider PeakStream, Inc., ATI is working to address the technical computing demands of energy, financial, defense and research organizations around the world, to give them the ability to arrive at detailed answers in significantly less time in order to make faster, better informed business decisions. ATI is also working with AMD to develop a co-processing platform based on AMD's Torrenza initiative.

Enterprise stream computing makes use of ATI's sophisticated graphics processors (GPUs) traditionally used to calculate and render millions of pixels onto computer monitors, hundreds of times each second. Combining that processing power with the reliability and stability of ATI's professional graphics adapters used in high-performance rendering environments, enterprise stream computing delivers exponential performance gains, providing processing speeds that are orders of magnitude faster than computer processors in today's traditional implementations.(2) When combined with today's high-performance, low-latency computer processors, enterprise stream computing can be used to solve complex computational problems.

"Enterprise stream computing has the potential to give companies the ability to process data at speeds they've only dreamed of until now," said Dave Orton, president and CEO, ATI Technologies Inc. "Today's graphics processors are capable of processing far more than just graphics applications - with the right platform support they are fully capable parallel processors ideally suited for a wide range of scientific, business and consumer applications. With the combination of ATI processors and the PeakStream Platform, we're working to quickly and easily enable these new levels of performance for businesses."

"The PeakStream Platform harnesses the power of next-generation multi-core processors, making it possible to easily and cost-effectively convert processors such as GPUs into radically powerful computing engines for exponentially increased application performance and decreased time to solution,(3)" said Neil Knox, president and CEO, PeakStream Inc. "With the PeakStream Platform, companies can now program ATI's high performance graphics processors for accelerated processing of non-graphics tasks, letting companies make critical business decisions faster."

Enterprise stream computing has the potential to affect a number of sectors including finance, oil and gas, and defense among others. Using ATI processors running on the PeakStream Platform, it's possible for financial institutions to accelerate Monte Carlo simulations used for risk assessment by as much as 16 times(2). In the oil and gas industry, enterprise stream computing is helping companies to more quickly determine where they should drill to find resource deposits. ATI hardware running on the PeakStream Platform accelerates the processing of seismic models by as much as 20 times(2).

ATI is working with leading companies and academic institutions worldwide(4), to build the stream computing ecosystem, delivering the performance, applications, software and tools necessary to turn ATI's broader stream computing vision into reality. For more information on ATI's stream computing initiatives, please see related company announcements made today on the topics of stream computing in general, and Stanford University's Folding@home program.