Palit brings out cheap-as-chips cards

PALIT IS AN interesting graphics card company, one of the few that makes both ATI and Nvidia products. Palit had two things that caught my eye because of its cooling systems, not high end parts, just low end things.

The first one is a passively cooled 8500. This one is nothing mindblowing, it is just a solid card that lacks a fan, heatpipes, chrome plating logos and LEDs. This means it is really cheap and OEMs love cheap. Customers also love cheap.

So what you have here is a plain card that works without a fan and costs a lot less than others with all the chrome, literally. People like shiny, but 99% of the cards will be in a closed case by your ankle, and ankles are rarely aware of aesthetics.

That said, inexpensive does not have to mean ugly. This is the 2600 Pro/AGP with a rather inexpensive Palit designed heatsink. Again, it is made for cost first, but then again, it looks a lot better than many of the copper and plastic encrusted monstrosities out there.

In general, Palit looks to be going for inexpensive over pretty, and for the majority of customers, that seems to be the right choice. µ