Friday, February 7th 2020
Palit Releases GTX 1650 KalmX - a Passively Cooled, 0dB GPU
Palit has today released the latest addition to its KalmX passive series of graphics cards - the GTX 1650 KalmX. This graphics card is an ITX-sized, 178 mm long GPU that is designed for zero noise, passively cooled builds, where noise is the primary factor. With a heatsink consisting out of two heat-pipes and many fins, the cooling solution should be capable of cooling the 75 W TDP of the GTX 1650 GPU. The cold plate of the heatsink covers the GPU and VRMs to provide safe GPU operation. Being based on the reference design, this card features default speeds of 1485 MHz base, and 1665 MHz boost clocks. For IO, Palit opted to include three ports, where one is HDMI 2.0b and the other two are DisplayPort 1.4a. All the power needed is provided by the PCIe slot, so there are no external power connectors.
60 Comments on Palit Releases GTX 1650 KalmX - a Passively Cooled, 0dB GPU
I suppose the obligatory X had to be included because hardware :roll:
Looks pretty good and that is some nice passive grunt.
Palit's heatsink is less dense, larger, it protrudes around the PCB. Everything good so far.
Problem?
The worst case scenario for this card is hanging horizontally with the cooler facing down and case airflow parallel to the PCIe slot (front-back)... which is how almost all DIY desktops work.
Somewhere in the middle there's a more common situation: a normal ATX layout as above, but with strong inflow from the floor.
But here's the Catch 22: most people buy these cards aiming at very low noise. Will they pair it with strong case fans? :)
Best case: heatsink fins aligned vertically in a tight case with bottom-up airflow - which is true for some niche mITX cases.
Here's Ghost S1:
In short: it's a very good card for a very tiny consumer group (with very niche PC) and extremely bad for the rest.
-Macgyvers a fan
But why?! :D
It's a very niche product. Larger companies won't waste time.
By the way, I am pretty sure KalmX will not fit into Ghost because the card is too wide ;)
The part of heatsink that is over the edge of card is considerable and I would suspect the card does better in horizontal position rather than vertical even with airflow from the bottom.
That thing lusted to bite your fingers... LoL
Of course, the point of that GN video isn't passive cooling, it's the continued fallout from AMD's half-a**ed 5600 XT launch. How difficult is it to make fans spin at a certain speed, for crying out loud? And yet AMD and its partners have managed to break that simple functionality. That's a stunning display of incompetence, even for RTG.