At least two leading add-in-board partners of ATI Technologies equip their graphics cards based on the latest mainstream RADEON 9600 XT VPU from the Markham, Ontario-based firm with faster memory than ATI suggests. Furthermore, one graphics cards maker also guarantees moderate overclockability of the chip on its special series of cards. The move is aimed to solidify positions of ATI Technologies against competition as well as pick out Sapphire Technology and Power Color from other producers of graphics cards using VPUs from ATI.

CP Technology, the company behind Power Color branded products, in late October unleashed two “Bravo Edition” graphics cards featuring specifications beyond those recommended by ATI Technologies. Power Color RADEON 9600 XT 128MB “Bravo Edition” has its memory clocked at whopping 760MHz, up 160MHz from ATI’s suggested speed. The co’s RADEON 9600 XT with 256MB “Bravo Edition” has VIVO functions in addition to a slight boost of memory frequency to 680MHz.

To bring even more advantages with its products, Power Color’s “Bravo Edition” graphics cards feature trendy fans with lighting LEDs, while typical version of the RADEON 9600 XT features memory with lower access time compared to the original RADEON 9600 XT, capable of working at higher frequencies.

Sapphire Technology – ATI’s partner Number One – recently launched its RADEON 9600 XT FireBlade graphics card. The novelty runs at default 500/600MHz for VPU/memory, but is capable of working at 532/650MHz speeds when FireBlade software is installed.

This Summer a number of companies, including Sapphire, SUMA and Power Color, boosted performance of their RADEON 9600 PRO graphics cards using faster memory. The trend now continues with the RV360, the successor of the RV350 VPU.

Pricing of RADEON 9600 XT products with performance tweaks is not expected to be much higher compared to ordinary RADEON 9600 XT-based graphics cards.