Trident XP4m32™ Powers Toshiba’s Performance Centrino™ Notebook with 6.7 Hours of Battery Life

Performance Graphics For All-day Mobile Computing On Centrino Platforms

Sunnyvale, Calif., March 19, 2003:

Solidifying its presence in performance 3D graphics with
the lowest power consumption for notebooks, Trident Microsystems,
Inc. (NASDAQ:TRID),
today revealed that its XP4m32 graphics processor lies at
the heart of Toshiba Tecra® M1, which employs Intel®
Centrino™ mobile technology for all-day wireless mobile
computing. Integrating 32Mbytes of DDR memory while consuming
only 4.5 watts of total power (max), the XP4m32 enables the
Toshiba Tecra M1 to extend its battery life to a record 6.7
hours, while still delivering excellent 3D graphics performance
to demanding PC users. The Toshiba Tecra M1 has just appeared
in two upbeat reviews by C|NET and PC Magazine.

“The Tecra M1 delivered surprising results in our 3D graphics
test. The system’s graphics adapter, the Trident XP4 32 MB,
allowed it to place second and to beat the two systems with
the higher profile ATI Mobility Radeon 9000 32MB graphics
adapter by a significant amount.” – C|NET.com on March 12,
2003.

Regarding 3D graphics performance, the Toshiba Tecra M1 checked in with a score of 5926 on Futuremark 3Dmark 2001 SE, the standard 3D performance benchmark, while the Dell Latitude™ D600 and the Compaq Evo N620c had lower scores of 4624 and 3871, respectively. While the DELL D600 employs ATI Mobility™ Radeon™ 9000, the Compaq N620c employs ATI Mobility Radeon 7500 as 3D graphics controllers with 64-bit memory bus and 32 Mbytes of graphics memory. These numbers correspond to Trident XP4m32 graphics performance superiority of 28% as compared to Mobility Radeon 9000 and 53% as compared to Mobility Radeon 7500.

With respect to battery life, the Toshiba Tecra M1 achieved a score of 305 on BAPCo MobileMark 2002, the industry-standard battery life benchmark, while the Dell Latitude D600 and the Compaq Evo N620c had lower scores of 242 and 274 respectively. These numbers translate to Toshiba Tecra M1 battery life lasting 26% longer as compared to DELL D600 and 11% longer when compared to Compaq N620c. The review can be found at www.cnet.com.

A similarly positive review also appeared in the March 12, 2003 on-line edition of PC Magazine, calling the battery life of the Toshiba Tecra M1 system “superb”. The review can be found at www.pcmag.com.

“We are very pleased that Toshiba has selected Trident XP4m32 for the Tecra M1 which fully incorporates Intel’s latest Centrino technology for a new generation of performance notebooks that are truly mobile and can run on a single battery all day long,” said Frank Lin, CEO and president of Trident. “Our technical strength is in using only half the number of transistors as compared to the competition to deliver the lowest power consumption with uncompromising features & performance for the Centrino mobile platforms.”

The XP4m32 is a Multi-Chip-Module (MCM) that integrates the
XP4 with two 4Mx32 DDR memory chips on a single 31×31mm BGA
package for smallest foot print and lowest power consumption.
The XP4 contains only 30 million transistors and fully supports
Microsoft’s DirectX 8.1 in hardware with BrightPixel™
programmable Vertex and Pixel Shaders with a peak rendering
performance close to 1 billion pixels per second. Other key
features include integrated LVDS, Multi-View and high-quality
video de-interlacing for DVD playback.

About Trident Microsystems,
Inc.
Trident Microsystems, Inc. (Nasdaq: TRID),
based in Sunnyvale, California, designs, develops and markets
digital media for the masses in the form of graphics controllers
and multimedia integrated circuits for desktop and portable
computing applications. Trident’s products are sold through
a network of OEMs, original design manufacturers (ODMs) and
system integrators worldwide. Please visit http://www.tridentmicro.com for more information.

Stephanie Won
Trident Microsystems
Tel: (408) 991-8800
Email: public_relations@tridentmicro.com
Web site: http://www.tridentmicro.com