LONDON, August 6th, 2003 - 3D Prophet 9600, Hercules' new 256MB mid-range graphics board based on ATI®'s RADEON(tm) 9600 chipset, is about to make a splash in the world of 3D gaming. 3D Prophet 9600 is the highly-anticipated newcomer in Hercules's celebrated range of 3D graphics boards, providing fast, high-quality rendering for a lifelike gaming experience with an excellent performance/price ratio.

With 256MB of fast DDR RAM, 3D Prophet 9600 offers gaming enthusiasts the best-in-class graphics solution built on the RADEON(tm) 9600 chipset. Hercules recognized that the time was right to develop a 256MB graphics board based on this chipset, and the 3D Prophet 9600 responds to a need in the market thanks to its reasonable price and its ability to process and display all current and upcoming games under optimal conditions.

The first 256MB board in Hercules' range, 3D Prophet 9600 combines the super-powerful RADEON(tm) 9600 chipset engine with the vast potential of 256MB memory. This advanced combination allows gamers to get the most out of all upcoming titles, which will feature more and more high-quality textures and huge levels requiring greater amounts of RAM for fluid, enhanced rendering.

"True to our philosophy, Hercules is providing demanding gamers with yet another well-designed, innovative and solidly-built graphics board," states Philippe Pecheu, 3D Graphics Product Manager at Hercules. "Active cooling combined with cooper heat dissipation is the best way to achieve our goal of cutting-edge performance and stability. Keeping in mind the explosion in the market for 'barebones' systems, we have been careful not to waste any room - the 3D Prophet 9600 is equipped with both front and back RAM heatsinks plus a cooper cooling system and requires only one AGP slot. Demanding fraggers will enjoy high-quality rendering, fast framerates and unsurpassed stability, even with LAN gaming."

3D Prophet 9600

Based on the RADEON(tm) 9600 - the most feature-rich 3D chipset in its price range - the 3D Prophet 9600 graphics board features 256MB of high-quality DDR RAM, a 128-bit DDR memory interface and a 4-pixel pipeline engine for amazing 3D rendering in today's and tomorrow's hit games, as well as Microsoft® DirectX® 9.0 and OpenGL® hardware support, high core (325MHz) and RAM (200MHz DDR) clock speeds and advanced filtering technologies (Anisotropic Filtering up to 16x and Full Scene Anti-Aliasing up to 6x) for incredible rendering. Hercules' R&D teams have developed a set of customized features to improve heat dissipation and stability, even under extremely high-stress conditions.

Key selling points and benefits:

Ø The most advanced technology available for all demanding users: a must-have for cinematic rendering.
Ø 256MB of fast DDR RAM.
Ø Future-proof 3D architecture: Microsoft's DirectX® 9 platform for increased speed in future games.
Ø AGP 8X/4X: the highest standard available.
Ø Hercules' know-how in innovative design.
Ø Heatsinks on RAM to stabilize the design even at high clock speeds.
Ø Cooper cooling fan.

Main features:

A top-notch set of technological advances for demanding users:

· RADEON(tm) 9600 for cinema-quality rendering on PC.
· 4 pixel-pipeline architecture for enhanced rendering power.
· 256MB DDR memory to boost the latest games with tons of textures.
· 128-bit DDR RAM interface for fast transfer rates between the graphics processor and the onboard memory.
· Hercules' know-how in innovative hardware design.
· Advanced cooling system for better performance and increased stability.


Forward-looking architecture: full hardware support of Microsoft's DirectX® 9 features:

· Full DirectX® 9 & OpenGL® hardware accelerator. AGP 8X/4X support for maximum performance with the latest motherboards.
· HyperZ(tm)III+: intelligent memory bandwidth optimization technology.
· Cinema-quality 3D images provided by ATI's latest 3D technology innovations:
- SMARTSHADER(tm) 2.0: Programmable Pixel Shaders 2.0 & Vertex Shaders 2.0
- TRUFORM(tm) 2.0 and DX9 Displacement Mapping
· SMOOTHVISION(tm) 2.1: hardware engine for 2X/4X/6X FSAA (Full Scene Anti-Aliasing) mode and advanced anisotropic filtering - no more jagged edges or speed compromise.

Advanced range of video & multimedia features:

· High-quality TV display on CRT and flat panel monitors.
· VIDEOSHADER(tm) engine: fluid playback of DVD movies on TV set or CRT and flat panels monitors. · FULLSTREAM(tm) technology for improved Internet streaming.
· Dual display on VGA, DVI or TV-Out (HYDRAVISION(tm)). Dual integrated 400MHz RAMDACs, maximum resolution of 2048x1536 @ 85Hz.

Availability: August 2003

Price: £120.00 excluding V.A.T.

About Hercules Technologies

Founded in the United States in 1982, Hercules developed the industry's first high-resolution graphics boards for PC. Having set the monochrome graphics standard, Hercules then proceeded to pioneer advances in color graphics solutions. Over the years Hercules has constantly sought to evolve, providing innovative lines of graphics, video and audio products geared principally towards the international gaming community. Hercules has been a division of the Guillemot Corporation group since 1999.

Guillemot Corporation designs and manufactures a complete range of PC hardware products and PC and game console accessories. With an active presence in 17 countries, the group currently distributes its products throughout 45 countries worldwide. Guillemot Corporation is listed on the Paris Stock exchange, Sicovam code 6672.

For more information, please visit our website at http://www.hercules.com.

About ATI Technologies

ATI Technologies Inc. is a world leader in the design and manufacture of innovative 3D graphics and digital media silicon solutions. An industry pioneer since 1985, ATI is the world's foremost Visual Processing Unit (VPU) provider and is dedicated to delivering leading-edge performance solutions for the full range of PC and Mac desktop and notebook platforms, workstations, set-top and digital television, game console and handheld markets. With 2001 revenues in excess of US $1 billion, ATI has more than 1,900 employees in the Americas, Europe and Asia. ATI common shares trade on NASDAQ (ATYT) and the Toronto Stock Exchange (ATY).