Gainward, a leading supplier of graphics cards that belongs to Palit Microsystems, is rumoured to cease selling graphics boards based on ATI Radeon graphics processing units (GPUs). The move has not been confirmed, but considering the fact that Gainward has not offered a truly broad range of ATI products, it may well be the case.

Gainward has always been an Nvidia-exclusive supplier of graphics cards and got particular publicity with its factory-overclocked Nvidia GeForce graphics boards. However, back in mid-2008 the company also released a lineup of ATI Radeon-powered graphics cards. While the line was rather rich, it has never been truly broad and according to TechConnect web-site Gainward is ready to pull the plug for this family of products.

The manufacturer still has not released its ATI Radeon 4770 and ATI Radeon HD 4890 graphics cards, something that has been accomplished by its rivals, which puts the future of Gainward’s ATI line under question.

ATI has been consistently saying that it did not need to have a massive amount of add-in-cards partners in order not to make them competing too seriously against each other. Considering that Palit itself is currently working hard to popularize its own brand, under which it ships both ATI and Nvidia graphics cards, it may be logical for Gainward to concentrate on Nvidia-based solutions.

Neither Gainward, nor ATI, graphics business unit of Advanced Micro Devices, commented on the news-story.

Tags: Gainward, ATI, AMD, Nvidia, Radeon, Geforce