NVIDIA will push the core and memory clocks of the GeForce FX 5600 Ultra upwards, as I read over here today. The decision to put the GPU and DDR SDRAM frequencies up was made keeping in mind possibly higher speed of the RADEON 9600 PRO in games compared to older version of the GeForce FX 5600 Ultra, while now the performance of the higher-end mainstream part of NVIDIA should be higher.

Earlier this year NVIDIA announced its GeForce FX Ultra with only 350/350MHz clocks for core and memory, but recently the company pushed the clocks towards 400/400MHz in order to increase the performance of the novelty. The ability to increase the clocks came from better understanding of the 0.13 micron fabrication process used for manufacturing the GeForce FX 5600 Ultra, NVIDIA’s Alain Tiquet said.

Since the company now sets higher core and memory clocks of the graphics card, we may assume that NVIDIA now has better yields of the chip formerly known as code-named NV31. We still do not know why does the Santa Clara, California-based GPU design house think that it will not achieve its cost targets for the GeForce FX product line before July, as the company revealed in the recent conference call. Maybe higher clocks of the GeForce FX 5600 still influence the yield and costs?

Currently X-bit labs staff has no information about availability timeframes of the GeForce FX Ultra 400MHz-based graphics cards. But I remember that ATI may also push the speeds of its mainstream RADEON 9600 VPU up later this year, as we found out in this news-story.

You can learn more information about the architecture and performance of the GeForce FX 5200 and 5600 product line in our article titled as “New Family of Low-Cost NVIDIA Chips: GeForce FX 5600/5200 Review”.