Palit announces passively cooled KalmX graphics card

For those looking for the quietest solution when it comes to graphical prowess, Palit has released the KalmX graphics card: a passively cooled solution within the Geforce GTX 1650 range. 

While it won't win any prizes for most powerful graphics card out there, it could be ideal for those looking for a quieter system. The KalmX has a massive passive heatsink that covers the VRM and memory. It uses two nickel-plated heat pipes to draw heat from its copper base which leads to the large fin stack. There's no fan in sight so it promises to be genuinely silent in action. 

Despite the lack of fan, it offers reasonable clock speeds too. It has a base clock of 1485 MHz with a boost clock of 1665 MHz, and memory clock of 8 Gbps. Such speeds work out as the average standard clock for reference 1650 cards with only a minor dip when it comes to the boost clock so - in theory - you won't miss out on much. Palit reckons you can still play in full 1080p HD at 60 frames per second. 

We suspect in action though, this may depend on what you're doing or playing, as to whether heat starts to become an issue. There's also the matter of the case it's installed in and how much airflow is available. It's recommended to keep an adjacent slot free to ensure that air can circulate well. This is the ideal time to point out that it's rather tall too compared to other cards of this kind, measuring 178 x 138 x 38mm. 

Still, as a passive solution, it's appealing stuff for those seeking a quiet system at the expense of high power. Even if it won't be the right fit for everyone any more, given the card it's based on's age. It also offers 1 HDMI port and 2 DisplayPorts if that's important to your needs. It's also fairly low maintenance when it comes to power too, pulling its 75W from the motherboard slot without any need for an extra PCIe power cable. 

Palit hasn't announced any pricing details yet or when it'll be released but we'd expect it to be quite soon given the announcement.