Albatron Refuses to Give Up on PCI

When the PCI-Express standard began to overshadow AGP, some people were upset. Sure, AGP was still capable, but PCI-E was pushing things towards the future. Faster bus speeds, lower latencies… perfect for the ultra-powerful GPUs we see today. So with AGP pretty-well phased out almost entirely now, who could even consider using a PCI slot for a GPU?

Apparently, Albatron. They have released three brand-new GPUs for PCI, those being the 8400 GS, 8500 GT and 8600 GT. Obviously, these are not meant to offer compelling gameplay experiences, but neither of these cards are that bad considering they should prove more powerful than many late-gen mid-range AGP cards.

Most interesting might be the fact that both the 8500 GT and 8600 GT feature HDMI output. The site doesn’t mention HDCP support, however, so I’m led to believe it’s not going to be suitable for HD video (no surprise, I guess). Pricing and availability is also not known, but if you just so happen to be in or around China, chances are these are readily available.

Albatron Technology has unveiled three new NVIDIA GeForce 8-series graphics cards that use the practically outdated PCI slot. While the appeal of the PCI8600GT-256X, the PCI8500GT-256X and the PCI8400GS-256 may not be obvious for anyone who has a PCI Express or even AGP slot on their motherboard, there are still quite a few systems (particularly small form factor or HTPC ones) where expansion options are limited, creating an niche market for these cards.