News Release

2005/11/23

SiS Fuels Xbox 360 Storm with Powerful Multimedia Chipset

Taipei, November 23rd, 2005 – Silicon Integrated Systems (SiS) today said that its customized multimedia chipset for Microsoft’s next-generation game console Xbox 360, which was launched on November 22 in North America, will ignite a fever for its performance.

The Xbox 360 is the next generation version of Microsoft’s Xbox, attempting to ride the five-year console-generation wave. The new Xbox360 will be available across North America, Europe and Japan in time for the Christmas holiday. The Xbox 360 platform has three built-in microprocessors that provide highly refined graphics and a detachable 20GB hard disk for massive game and music storage. With a removable faceplate, the Xbox 360 can be personalized to reflect your individual style.

Not only is the Xbox 360 a gaming machine with powerful graphics performance allowing you to play games with smooth, life-like images – it is also a digital entertainment center that accommodates music, movies and digital photo viewing. By connecting to Xbox Live via a built-in Ethernet port, you can chat and interact with gamers worldwide, exchange video and audio files, and download new games. You can also connect the Xbox 360 to your television and stereo system at home to enjoy the ultimate in digital entertainment.

SiS is Taiwan’s first IC design house to participate in the development of Microsoft Xbox, and the SiS multimedia chipset plays an integral role in enabling the Xbox 360’s powerful performance, superb images for online games and engaging digital entertainment functions. The SiS multimedia chipset fully optimizes the outstanding performance of Xbox 360, which demonstrates SiS’s exceptional customization technology and boosts the overall digital entertainment value of Xbox 360. The most prominent features of the SiS multimedia chipset are its compatibility with PCI Express technology and sufficient bandwidth between Northbridge and Southbridge chipset, which enable the robust operation of the peripheral high-speed I/O interface for fully optimized performance.

The customized SiS multimedia chipset supports two independent Serial ATA ports which increase Xbox 360’s hard disk access speed and provide up to 150MB/s data transmission rates for storage devices. The significant reduction in the size of the Serial ATA cable saves space and facilitates heat dispersion. With three external USB2.0 high-speed ports available, Xbox 360 may be linked to a wide range of peripheral devices such as MP3 players and digital cameras. With multimedia audio and video applications, Xbox 360 supports high-quality surround sound and offers Xbox 360 headphone and microphone connectivity to enhance sound effects for online games or chats. With an MII interface and 10/100Mbps Ethernet, gamers can download new games, view game demos, build online files, or share audio/video messages with other gamers via online connection to Xbox Live.

Gamers are waiting feverishly to purchase the Xbox 360, which has created a huge storm of anticipation in the gaming battlefield. SiS is pleased to have taken part in the development of this innovative gaming platform, which will surely satisfy gamers' expectations worldwide. SiS expects to see this first-rate, high-tech product to take the world by a storm.