ELSA Synergy II now available in stores

Professional graphics solution for entry level workstations turns price to performance ratios upside down

Aachen, June 1999 – The ELSA Synergy II, the newest development from ELSA AG, is now available through distributors, and in retail stores. ELSA AG is one of the world’s leading producers of professional graphics solutions. Starting at DM498, the ELSA Synergy II offers 2D/3D graphics acceleration for professional applications in visualization, CAD, picture editing and DTP, at a performance level unprecedented in its price range. The special universal card design with AGP 1x, 2x and 4x support gives the Synergy II a high degree of security for the future.

Another plus: the Synergy II comes with ELSA Software Advantage, which supports Windows NT, Windows 95 and Windows 98, and is ready for Windows 2000. The ELSA Software Advantage package contains special applications drivers for AutoCAD 2000/R14, Mechanical Desktop, and 3D Studio MAX/VIZ. There are also applications settings for important computer aided design and engineering (CAD/CAE) and digital content creation (DCC) applications, like ALLPLAN FT, CADdy++, I-DEAS, MS, IntelliCAD, Lightscape, Lightwave 3D, Microstation SE, Pro/Engineer, SolidWorks and WorldToolKit.

ELSA’s proprietary OpenGL technology ELSA SIMDream, with Pentium III optimization, high performance NVIDIA graphics processor RIVA TNT2, and up to 32 MB SGRAM, displays performance characteristics that compare favorably with far more expensive alternatives.

Peter Sheerin, editor in chief of the influential American professional magazine Cadence, attests that the ELSA Synergy II "delivers better 3D CAD performance than graphics cards that cost several times as much". The Synergy II subsequently received the highlight award "Cadence Show Stopper NDES 1999", at the National Design and Engineering Show (NDES) 1999 in Chicago.

Ralf Brugger, application engineer at the Discreet division of Autodesk, says that, "at present, there is no competitor that comes close to the price-performance ratio of the Synergy II. I really like the ELSA SIMDream OpenGL driver and ELSA MAXtreme for 3D Studio MAX/VIZ. For me, stable, high quality drivers are an important criterion."

His American colleague Jeremy Hubbell, Product Marketing Manager for 3D Studio VIZ, says it all: "At last, the VIZ user is getting the best of all graphics worlds, at a price that suits everyone’s budget."

The ELSA Synergy II is equipped with a RIVA TNT2 processor, and either 32 MB or 16 MB SGRAM. The integrated 300 MHz RAMDAC ensures a high ergonomic refresh rate for all resolutions. Even with the maximum resolution of 1920 x 1200 pixels in True Color, the 32 MB version has double buffering, a 24 bit Z-buffer and an 8 bit stencil. The TwiN Texel technology of the graphics processor, with two independent 32 bit texture render pipelines, enables capacities of 250 million pixels in 32 bit color depth, and processing of 8 million triangles per second. The ELSA Synergy II fully supports the SIMD capability of the Intel Pentium III processor. The SIMDream driver carries out geometrical calculations on the processor in quadruple parallel. Even with calculation-intensive graphics, 3D performance is further increased. Of course, the ELSA Synergy II is fully compatible with Pentium^®II processors.

The ELSA Synergy II is now available in computer stores and through distributors. It retails for DM 498 for the 16 MB version, and DM 598 for the 32 MB version. To find the address of a store that carries the ELSA Synergy II, visit the Internet site www.elsa.de.

For further information: Infoline +49-(0)241-606-5112

Names in this press release may be trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective owners. The ELSA logo is a registered trademark of ELSA AG.