NVIDIA Corporation (Nasdaq: NVDA), the worldwide leader in programmable graphics processor technologies, today announced broad industry support and channel momentum for the NVIDIA Business Platform programme. System builders worldwide are now shipping certified NVIDIA Business Platform systems, providing IT managers at small and medium-sized businesses with a certified, commercial stable platform based on NVIDIA nForce® motherboards and NVIDIA® GeForce® and NVIDIA Quadro® graphics technologies.

Designed with the goal of lowering total cost of ownership and enhancing manageability, the NVIDIA Business Platform is built upon strong industry partnerships. In particular, NVIDIA has aligned with AMD through the company’s Commercial Stable Image Platform program, to enable offerings of PCs where both the underlying hardware and software configuration can remain unchanged for at least one year.

“Working with the AMD64 ecosystem on the CSIP program has enabled AMD to be at the forefront of successful commercial initiatives like the NVIDIA Business Platform,” said Jochen Polster, vice-president sales and marketing, Worldwide Infrastructure Partnerships, AMD. “NVIDIA Business Platform-certified systems utilising AMD processor-based systems provide our joint channel customers with an excellent opportunity to deliver high quality, stable commercial solutions and increase their success in the business PC market.”

NVIDIA developed the NVIDIA Business Platform programme in close cooperation with global system builders that focus on commercial segments, including small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs), government, and education customers.

“Through the NVIDIA Business Platform, NVIDIA is empowering the channel and system builder communities,” explains Guido Forsthoevel, Marketing Director for Maxdata Germany. “For the first time, the NVIDIA Business Platform means we can provide a stable hardware platform based on AMD processors which is available over an extended period of time. Combined with the potential savings which can be achieved through the NVIDIA Business Platform’s low total cost of ownership, this makes it a very attractive option for small and medium sized businesses.”

Recognising the importance of manageability within SMB environments, NVIDIA also has teamed up with leading systems management software companies, including Altiris, for certified compatibility.

“Altiris recognises that effective client management is key to helping small and medium businesses reduce manageability costs of PC hardware and software,” said Tyler Smith, Altiris VP of business development. “We are working closely with NVIDIA on their NVIDIA Business Platform initiative to offer a comprehensive, tightly integrated solution with the Altiris Client Management Suite.”

The NVIDIA Business Platform incorporates a comprehensive certification programme to enhance IT manager confidence in channel solutions. In order to be certified, NVIDIA Business Platform motherboards—which are currently offered by motherboard manufacturers including ASUS, Foxconn, Gigabyte, and MSI—must be designed to NVIDIA’s rigid specifications, use NVIDIA-defined components, and complete an OEM-class commercial testing programme. The NVIDIA Unified Driver Architecture helps lower total cost of ownership by providing IT managers with a single stable software image that can be used across multiple PC configurations and multiple generations of hardware.

“The commercial desktop PC marketplace represents an untapped opportunity for NVIDIA to grow its business,” said Drew Henry, general manager of MCP business at NVIDIA. “IT managers demand a stable image platform to help contain costs, and only NVIDIA, along with its strong partners, is delivering a solution that delivers certified stability through the channel.”

A sampling of certified global system builders participating in the NVIDIA Business Platform programme include:

ABS (City of Industry, CA)
Amax (Fremont, CA)
Aspect Computer (Somerset, NJ)
Bass Computers (Houston, TX)
Compusys (United Kingdom)
Elite PC (Tempe, AZ)
Equus (Minneapolis, MN)
Extra Computer (Germany)
Hard Drives Northwest (Bellevue, WA)
Leo Computer (Germany)
Maxdata (Germany)
M&A (Dallas, TX)
Tagar Systems (Vancouver, Canada)
Microtech (Lawrence, KS)
NCS (Manassas, VA)
Polywell (South San Francisco, CA)
Premio (City of Industry, CA)
Seneca Data (North Syracuse, NY)
T-Systems (Germany)
Tarox (Germany)
United Micro (Sunnyvale, CA)
Wortmann (Germany)
ZT Group (Seacaucus, NJ)

For more information on the NVIDIA Business Platform, or how to get system builder certification, please visit http://www.nvidia.co.uk/page/nbp.html.

About NVIDIA

NVIDIA Corporation is the worldwide leader in programmable graphics processor technologies. The Company creates innovative, industry-changing products for computing, consumer electronics, and mobile devices. NVIDIA is headquartered in Santa Clara, California and has offices throughout Asia, Europe, and the Americas. For more information, visit http://www.nvidia.co.uk.

Certain statements in this press release including, but not limited to, the features, benefits, capabilities and performance of the NVIDIA Business Platform Solution, the availability of products, the certification process, growth opportunities, IT manager demands, and the extended period of availability of the NVIDIA Business Platform Solution 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, unanticipated costs, changes in IT manager demands, demand by customers for our competitors’ products, unforeseen difficulties of management, delays in ramping new products into production, market acceptance of new products and technologies, changes in the certification process, loss of performance when products are integrated, changes in industry standards and interfaces, the impact of competitive products and pricing, manufacturing defects, software bugs, and other risks detailed from time to time in the NVIDIA reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission including its Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended January 29, 2006. These forward-looking statements speak only as of the date hereof. NVIDIA disclaims any obligation to update these forward-looking statements.

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Copyright © 2006 NVIDIA Corporation. All rights reserved. All company and/or product names may be trade names, trademarks and/or registered trademarks of the respective owners with which they are associated. Features, pricing, availability, and specifications are subject to change without notice.