Palit's GeForce GTX 470 is a solid implementation of a non-reference design for the GTX 470. Coming at reference design clocks, we didn't expect any changes in performance - and there weren't any. Palit also went with several design choices that aren't performance related. The major changes are that Palit uses a dual-fan cooling setup instead of the single fan on the NVIDIA heatsink. Another change is the voltage regulation circuitry which has been designed with cost in mind. Let's start with that. A cheaper voltage regulation design can often result in higher power draw or less stable power delivery which could show in lower overclocking limits. In our testing, the Palit GTX 470 reached a maximum overclock comparable to the reference design, so overclocking is not affected. Power consumption on the other hand is higher in all our tests, but the difference in idle and Blu-Ray playback is so small it is negligible. During gaming however there is an increase in power requirement of around 20 W. Higher power draw always means more heat which needs to be handled by the cooler. Palit did a decent job here. Their dual fan design emits roughly the same noise as the reference design in both idle and load. In regard to temperatures, the Palit solution is actually running a few °C cooler, but not by enough to make a substantial difference.
The added display outputs are really just an added choice. Due to NVIDIA's GPU design it is not possible to use more than two outputs at the same, even though the card provides four outputs. So everything considered, the Palit GTX 470 is equal to the NVIDIA reference design GTX 470 - just $20 cheaper. If you are in the market for a GTX 470, definitely consider Palit's offering.