While the fact that one of the main add-in card partners of NVIDIA Corporation, Microstar International, was going to include at least some “Powered by ATI” graphics cards into its lineup has been known for quite some time, it was probably a little shock to finally see the real evidence for such plans.

Chinese web-site GZeasy published a picture of PCI Express x16 graphics card reportedly based on ATI RV380 graphics processor and having MSI sticker on the cooling fan and MSI’s numbers on the PCB, which is probably be a sign of the card’s origin – an MSI fab. The product is equipped with 128MB of memory and installs D-Sub, DVI-I and TV-Out connectors.

Rumours about ATI’s collaborations with MSI and ASUSTeK – NVIDIA’s largest add-in-board partners – have been going around for a couple of years and while partnership between ASUS and ATI was confirmed last year, any graphics cards-related affiliation between MSI and ATI is denied. The last time we reported about possible deal between ATI and MSI with estimated announcement date in mid-January, the information did not materialize. Making graphics cards based on VPUs from ATI Technologies is not going to be something totally new for MSI. The company already produces such kind of hardware for its partner Medion. Microstar International also makes RADEON 9100 IGP-based mainboards.

Representatives from ATI and MSI did not comment on the story.