Why is this Graphics Card bent? Palit RTX 4080 with "Special" Design but Great Results

[@stripes5773]

I think the front actually looks really good, just need to get rid of that nasty game rock logo

[@rare6499]

Agreed - doesn’t fit with the rest of the aesthetics. I like the card, think it looks nice, it’s very clean outside of the lighting but I like it.

[@marinipersonal]

They should stop writing gamer everywhere, full stop. A lot of good products let down by childish design. Such things should be reserved for special/limited edition or stickers. RGB is fine. One can always turn it off.

[@TheAtomicSpoon]

@@marinipersonal I do miss not having to pay for it though. When everything adds extra cost for RGB it's a decent chunk of change.

[@TerraWare]

I think its the same font style as the Rock Band games.

[@dontmatter4423]

mIdNIgHt kAlEidOsCoPe

[@arkanrais]

The crystal design is a nice change from the standard diffused aRGB strips on many graphics cards these days. It's a good option for people who want RGB shenanigans, without getting another card that looks just like all the others.

[@zhenya7992]

So is the bend! Its all about perception.

[@4Core100]

RGB colour based on temperature is really good idea. Would be pretty cool to also have CPU cooler with RGB fan and RGB case fans. If you are into it...

[@baltogames1501]

Asus' Aura Sync has the option to control all rgb to temperature, but it's just cpu temp. It would be nice to be able to control gpu rgb to temp separately. Hopefully they'll put it in an update. Even better would be 3rd party software that isn't proprietary-component specific.

[@dexheavy85]

The design is definitely different. But I find it a good thing. Pretty much all cards perform exactly the same. A few percent up or down is basically the silicon lottery. Back in the day if you wanted a green build you would go with Sniper mbo. If they all perform the same we can then choose based on the design. And having more options is awesome.

[@OriginalBosss]

Not just that some have cheaper components Palit being one of them according to a teardown video I had seen and while it may not be a bad thing it could potentially have problems in the future that I would rather avoid

[@terraincognitagaming]

@@OriginalBosss Palits like the biggest gpu third party vendor

[@OriginalBosss]

@@terraincognitagaming The grass is also green Lol KZbin deleted your shitty reply 10/10

[@terraincognitagaming]

@@OriginalBosss And youre mentally 12

[@Lishtenbird]

In 8-10 years, when these 30x0/40x0 cards and Trident Royal Z modules are easily accessible, I really want to make a secondary Land of the Lustrous, "gemstone mine" build. With more blackout on non-"gem" parts, and with other accents. I think it has potential to look sleek and elegant.

[@TheSlickmicks]

That would be a cool build. No cap. Imagine being rich and doing it now, but with real diamond accents inside instead of anime figurines.

[@Meeliskt77]

I allready have your dream build. In some reason I love these ridicilous plastic crystals :D

[@DepressedMusicEnjoyer]

I was able to get a Royal trident z for a great price two years ago

[@simonhazel1636]

Look at the klevv cras memory, it would go perfectly with this card

[@UncleButterworth]

@@TheSlickmicks No cap frfr bussin bussy finna go hard yall. mup da do didda

[@vMaxHeadroom]

I have the 4090 version of the exact GPU so not the OC version and even mine was slightly bent. First, I thought it was the GPU holder that was doing it but then after a while I realised it was ever so slightly bent on that side. Still very impressed as it was without a doubt the most cost-effective version and it runs cool, quiet and no coil whine that I can hear and even the over the top ARGB is something I can live with. Great content as always....

[@TerraWare]

Could whine seems to be more like a lottery. I had a bit of coil whine on my Strix 6800XT that got better amd better after months of use. My Strix 3080Ti has no coil whine and my Tuf 4090 has a very tiny bit you can only hear if the case is open and it's really quiet. I know I wouldn't be happy if I bought an expensive gpu and had coil whine like the Strix 4080 Roman had on his video. That was really bad.

[@___DRIP___]

You’re gonna have bent fps now. Very sad

[@SuperSulc]

Best for those bent screens. The pixels come out slightly curvy already so the screen has to work less.😅

[@christianrobloxserver7282]

Mine was bent too. Wasn't too bad taking off the backplate and straightening it. It's weird how many of them got bent the same way... shoddy quality assurance as usual from Palit. I wound up just deshrouding it and throwing Noctuas on it

[@Jobastion]

I think design wise, the card's actually great. For anyone that's using a normal case and normal mounting and a case below eye level, you're only really going to see the back and some of the side plates, and those look really good. If you're side mounting the card... well, you know what you're in for, and that's a whole lot of fabulous (which... eh, kinda like how it looked with the colors changing, not a fan of it when it displayed a static single color.) Wondering how the diffusion pattern of those lights ends up looking in a traditional case.

[@temporaltomato3021]

I wish partners would start programming a more substantial difference between the two bios options on their cards. Dual bios can still be a useful feature in case something goes wrong with one of them somehow, but simply a slight change in fan curve is so boring. Especially when it's no secret that a higher power limit is readily accessible in software.

[@ffwast]

The gamerock cards look really cool because they're some of the only ones on the market with such a bold aesthetic and I love that,but what really interests me is if those 8-pin connectors can just be soldered on and run with normal power that doesn't melt

[@consummateVssss]

instead of soldering 8 pins on there, just plug the 12 pin in all the way lol including the 8 pins was likely just Palit hedging their bets in their pcb design while the 12 pin situation developed so they could use either option during final manufacturing, turns out 12 pins melting was just user error at a very low rate so Palit ended up deciding to go with the 12 pin

[@wimpyhugz_TGK]

I don't mind the look of this card. If anything, I'd say it looks less gamer-y than most other cards and the gemstone diffraction pattern for the lighting is a nice break from the usual smooth diffusion.

[@ohamatchhams]

*notice GAME ROCK behind the crystalline design on the fan* Yeah it's funny lol

[@gasracing4000]

G. Skill could be upset that their glowing rock design has been stolen. Love the design personally.

[@Blackwing2345635]

Actually both in 3000 line up and 4000 GameRock look is one of my favorite. Just RGB panel with mineral-ish texture, doesn't look childish, no crazy shapes. In general Palit did quiet nice last gens - both looks and performance

[@FirstEver]

You have a white dead pixel on your camera (or some post production artifact), it is located 15% from the top and 45% from the the left side. For a moment i thought it was my monitor... :P

[@Noganite]

I think it looks pretty too! This card would pair great with my Trident Z Royals (gold version ddr4). I think there are a few cases with a diamond type rgb setup so, maybe, a ‘bling’ build?

[@djchotus1]

i have the 3070 ti version, epic! love the RGB spew, and tbh as a card, it's in the top 3-5% of all 3070tis in testing on 3DMARKS

[@adamkamieniarz9223]

it looks like a dollar store christmas decoration

[@navileraaa]

but still you couldn't effort it

[@anttimaki6633]

@@navileraaa afford/effort, not a fence/no offence, try and/try to etc lmao

[@adamkamieniarz9223]

​@@navileraaa You are right, I couldn't, but at least I can spell.

[@2jimmycrackcorn]

This card, Trident Z Royal Memory, and Cooler Master Prismatic fans would make for a really cool crystal build. I am sure this has been done with the Palit Gamerock 30 series cards which were similar in design style.

[@MrBratkenSolov]

Gypsie style

[@LaurentiusTriarius]

I seriously didn't want a 4080 but now I need that midnight kaleidoscope thing.

[@TheAnoniemo]

I think it looks a lot better than some of the GAMER cards from other brands. I can see it fitting in with the Trident Z Royal memory for example.

[@B0BBYGAMER]

That was my first thought too they also make fans with that effect now could have a theme also not very surprised the German doesn't like it😄

[@Gatsbyy]

@@B0BBYGAMER Weird joke

[@JaySilva88]

Quality is surely on point for a Palit card, comes bent from factory and all!

[@7amoodxalmarri]

To be honest, I tested many 30 series when everyone was panicking about memory temps with 3080's and above, Palit cards had the coldest memory chips @ 70-86c under load, while MSI, Gigabyte, Asus TUF etc.... had around 100-110c mem temps under load. The Palit gaming pro cards came with plastic backplate if I am not mistaken, so no pads @ the back but still managed to keep memory temps under control, unlike other manufacturers, the gamerock version like this one had good thermals also. Edit: also most of the thermal pads used by MSI, Gigabyte, Zotac etc... worked great in the first 6 months, then the pads start to become oily and wear out, the longer you keep them the worse they are gonna get, but Palit used some high quality pads. Don't know about manufacturing tolerances tho.

[@nik12937]

@@7amoodxalmarri My Asus Tuf 3080 memory runs at 85C under load with the quiet BIOS, I'm not sure how you managed 100C+

[@simonhazel1636]

It's intentional, it's to reduce graphics card sag

[@7amoodxalmarri]

@@nik12937 The Asus tuf I tried was a 3090, didn't try a 3080 tuf, but my friends 3070ti tuf runs just fine.

[@mcmurder8835]

I have one in my case. Once the card is installed in its normal orientation with the led turned off via the motherboard bios settings.. it actually looks damned good. Very glad I bought this model, it's really well built.

[@lousarmiento4437]

im lucky to get one at £950 from £1200 during primeday here in london

[@TheOznark]

Honestly I really want to get one of these RTX trident royal at a reasonable price in the US.

[@N0N0111]

I love all the coil whine sections in your video's, it is really worth talking about.

[@Hanginthere4100]

>$1600 GPU for : - Melting PCIe connector - Bent - Terrible coil whine - Terrible software Looks like a good bargain

[@tobimathi2941]

Mine is bent too. Same for a friend's card. I did get one with a broken middle fan (horrible chainsaw sounds when above 70% fan speed) and obviously returned it. The shop sent me a replacement, (also bent), but the fan works properly. "Funny" thing now is: The shop (big one with good reputation in Germany) did an inspection of the broken card and want me to give them the working card back or re-buy the broken one for full price, because allegedly "I strongly bent the card"... I can't even imagine how you would be able to achieve this so called bend. So glad I found your video showing that this "bend" is clearly coming from the manufacturer and not me dancing Salsa on the card (which wouldn't even be able to bend it like that I guess).

[@analogicparadox]

Onestly the front could be great in standard orientation, as it can't really be seen but adds a nice amount of light on the PSU shroud.

[@lucidnonsense942]

Fun fact, Palit is the biggest PCB manufacturer on the planet, lot of the smaller OEMs get their GPU PCBs from them. They are also the biggest GPU manufacturer, if you add their subsidiary brands like Galax, Zostac etc etc, they have about half dozen iirc. You know, I kind of like the design, at least it's not more generic "gamer" bs.

[@PerfectExsneeder]

I didnt know that! Thats very interesting. Does that mean their GPUs are good? How do they compare to Asus, Gigabyte, MSI in terms of cooling and software?

[@lanceh90]

As always, love your content Roman. Appreciate the English versions! Keep up the good work.

[@80pinguoinikator]

Germany tend to be considered a western country i daresay^^

[@der8auer-en]

thanks :)

[@ItsReaxxion]

im not westerner and i also appreciate the English version

[@lanceh90]

@@ItsReaxxion Good point, I've edited the comment accordingly. Have a good day :)

[@falcie7743]

Interesting with the 8 pin power solder points. I'd be interested in seeing the card converted to 2x 8 pin with a water block or something so they don't get in the way of the heatsink.

[@vukkzor]

Palit/Gainward/Yeston is exactly the same card just with different cooler design (only the cooler and the shroud looks different the heatsing is the same i think) and boxing, so if you dont like the looks you can check the Gainward version that has much less bling but should perform identically.

[@izidor]

Palit had the past 5-6 years always great coolers and cards overall.They easily had the performance and noise levels of asus and msi. Very underrated brand.

[@themadnes5413]

Yeah, i had a 1080ti from Palit since launch, now my GF is using this gpu. Runs and runs, with a little bit of coil whine but not bad at all. And stays very cool for a 1080ti @max 66°c

[@Aries0098]

Well, not all their stuff is great. Buildzoid did a teardown on their 4090 PCB.... not great: /watch?v=9I7U4kdc0V4

[@arturscherbakov2543]

All Palit 40xx series have terrible fans with audible rattling noise.

[@rajatmenon9782]

THE COLOR IS SICKKK

[@hermanvisser4034]

I am really enjoying this series of yours. Great content helping us in the market for these cards.

[@David-yx3bd]

I think if you're into a lot of RGB and something flashy, it works. I have to say I respect the amount of hustle the different manufacturers are putting into each card trying to make them unique (as much as is possible with same product at its core), especially in a "skip" generation. Most people looking to upgrade already did or will using older cards. I think the only reason it will be even a halfway decent gen for either camp is that it's the first gen where 4k cards are actually practical for gaming.

[@salarmosavi9189]

i have the 4090 version of this and they do have cut some corners on the VRM part (16+2)but it doesn't matter for day to day use and gaming. The cooler just like here is GREAT on 4090 version as well and also Super quiet . If you can ignore the bling i believe this brand is the most affordable one in the market . (4090 version was average 400 Euro cheaper compared to next closest brand atleast)

[@SH-cl7cc]

same here. got the 4090 version and love it

[@dstark384]

I think it could look good if you built a system to match, maybe some hard line water cooling with some matching rgb in a white case with lighter coloured components to make the whole system bright.

[@tumelin]

Before you powered the card on I didn't really care for the looks, but the rgb goes very well with that crystal type design and I would definitely go for that kind of card over a lot of others.

[@tiromandal6399]

Yet another awesome and needed video! I had no idea Palit made such good graphics cards, I always thought of them as cheapos and the design definitely didn't help it seems more like an acquired taste. I love the Trident Z Royal series so I might also come to like this one too over time.

[@Ubersmieszek]

I just ordered one yesterday and I think the design is really nice. I won't be able to see it though, since my PC is on the left side, with the glass panel facing a wall :D

[@McTroyd]

I rather like the crystal design, but it would only be meaningful with a custom case design to complement it. (Perhaps a Nerdforge-style fantasy magic theme?) We learned from the EVGA debacle that margins on these cards aren't great, so I suppose it's no shock they removed thermal pads they don't technically need. No big deal for anyone with a web browser, a credit card, a street address, and a screwdriver. Might ping them about that thermal grease though. I hear you know a thing or two about that. 😉👍

[@oscarcharliezulu]

This card will do well - it’s unique and although it’s a bit love or hate design wise, it’s at least different and I think lots of people will buy it. The same people who bought that ram with the crystals.

[@LegacyIvyTerascale]

8:15 so you should use it without the plate for better thermals and noise combo especially on a horizontal motherboard

[@NiC707]

Great review as always Roman! Too bad they don't use the backplate at all for thermal transfer, although 4090s have been proven quite great on thermals. I was wondering though, would adding a couple of thermal pads, as you've suggested, help or make it worse since they've also added electrical vinyl for insulation against shorts etc on the backplate? The thermal pads won't make direct contact with the backplate unless you take out the insulating tape.

[@KEITHTB12345]

I thought the same thing. Good comment 👍

[@GoldPunch]

Yeah I was thinking same.

[@yosifvidelov]

Boosting to 2895. This is the OC version. Mine is non-OC and still boosts to 2820 sustained clock which is quite nice. Not surprising for performance since Gamerock is the highest class for Palit cards. I am a fan of that Brand and never had any issues with it for 4 generations.

[@ruikazane5123]

If they haven't named the card that way it actually seems good. Imagine if they could extend the crystal RGB design on the entire shroud...and maybe some accents or clear (ish) blades on the fan and it could actually look better. Wouldn't be my first choice if it would ever be my rig unless the theme fits it.

[@darylscott6372]

I like that it's a different look than the rest of the cards.

[@lucasreis1516]

30 series Game Rock are excelente cards. Specially the Overclocked versions. Shame on ROG STRIX for having coil whine on such expensive starting price for their 4080s

[@bobthompson4319]

A kaleidoscope is the cardboard tube thing you looked through and turned the end and the colors changed. thats where the color on the gpu comes from.

[@nightowlarchive]

I personally see myself picking up this card when I have some spare change, I love the way it looks.

[@jGRite]

Looks fine, it's just that the fans don't light up. That really sets back the overall 'blingness' of it.

[@woeichyuanleong924]

I had the Palit GameRock 3080, it is a beautiful card. I love it.

[@gordonneverdies]

The front looks awesome. Might even get me to try vertical mount.

[@phantomfreak0813]

Got the 4080 gameRock from Palit for christmas, and i can say i am in love with the card, had a STRIX OC 1080ti before and told myself that i only want the STRIX cards bcs of the great cooling, bit the 40 Series cooling is next level, under full load 60 degrees celsius is great, my 1080ti under watercooling archieved 51 degrees celsius, i also safve 40 Wats of power draw, just amazing

[@kpakpatojournal1555]

14:08 for second i thought the screen on the right was on fire there 😄

[@zakelwe]

I like the beige and brown Noctua fans on graphics cards so maybe I shouldn't comment ... :) The looks are not great but who cares if it is cheaper and performs just as well? Warranty and cost would be more important than looks, and definitely the cooling and quietness is. Good review, thanks.

[@michaelthompson9798]

11:57 interesting about the 2x 8-pin connectors …… if it’s wired up …. Maybe mod the GPU and use some old 8-pin power connectors from another GPU and solder them to this GPU and plug in and test the performance etc 2x 8-pin vs PCI-e 5.0 spec power 💪🥰👍

[@NoSleep420]

This card would match the G-Skill Trident Z Royal parts very well, actually

[@GoldPunch]

I bought this card and so happy so far.

[@Redman147]

This card was made for those who bought G.Skill Royal RAM kits. I'm not really a fan of it, but if you like that kind of design you can really build off of it. I would like GPU design to be like old companies like Avexir with catchy, but subtle designs.

[@r4z4m4t4z]

diamonds look great

[@pedroferrr1412]

I also have Palit Gamerock 1080 TI, that also is bent, it never had any kind of accident.

[@jmswilliams70]

it reminds me of those 1980's boom boxes, and it damn near as big as one too.

[@medawc519]

This card has a "more elegant design" twin called Gainward RTX 4080 Phantom. From what I've read and seen in the pictures in the reviews it's literally the same card: same PCB, same cooler, same fans, even the same backplate, the only difference is the shroud around fans and less RGB (only the logo is backlit).

[@EXG21]

Kaleidoscope is a mixture of gemstones and infinity mirror. If you like that, that's what this design is based on.

[@lonelymtbrider3369]

I don't care too much about the front (which I think looks pretty strange btw), because I always mount it horizontally anyway so it will be covered. What is more important is the side and backplate appearance and that looks fine to me.

[@NyssaB]

The gemstone look is pretty, would look nice next to the Trident Z Royals.

[@Sitharii]

Palit design "stands-out" from the crowd , very unique design , thus i like this one a lot. Over the years(Pascal series and later) the design of the Palit models have gained my attention and became among my top-choices ( GTX1080 Gamerock Premium , RTX3060Ti Dual )

[@psychotictactoe]

Have Palit stopped making the Super Slipstream versions? they looked great and cooling was amazing!

[@MaunoMato99]

One of these days the AIBs will set the fan stickers perfectly in the center, but not today.

[@madweazl]

It's funky looking but it wont be visible in most cases anyways.

[@bobthompson4319]

So put a thick thermal pad on the back and solder on 2 8 pin power connecters and go.

[@nedimhalilovic1]

That design of the card in my opinion is the only one worth mounting vertically because it just imposes itself while most of the other cards just have a tiny strips on sides so yeah

[@EC-zn1nw]

Personally I love the light refractions. BLING BLING!

[@Olomana808]

You've unlocked the polyatomic camo. Sick.

[@michaelthompson9798]

3:01 ….. lol the “Yes (Yah)” was a definite sign of Der8auers like of the GPU rgb 😅😂🤣….. you can hear the excitement (NOT) in his voice 😛. I personally LOVE the Game Rocks aesthetics 👍💪✊.

[@mayykara]

i have the 3070 model of this palit design still using it today 2+ year its really silent and temps are great , personally i like the design and using with LEDs is off but sometimes just pure white LED looks great

[@TheGXDivider]

I like this card. I have the 4090 version, vertical mount, goes well with my trident royal ram. Thanks for the review !

[@dave_r]

There's nothing wrong with the 'diamond' lighting if you avoid looking at it... I'm wondering when the last time a high-end card got discounted (tell me this won't be discounted) because of the way it looks... I realize that this is subjective, but were I going to spend what AIB 4080's will cost, I don't think this is the aesthetic that would appeal.

[@Takashita_Sukakoki]

I hate that i have to have some bloatware just to turn off the RGB of a video card. Some cards have the lights on the pcb...

[@EinSwitzer]

i love it... .palit don't stop making it perfect your own way...

[@NeroKoso]

For me, looks of the card does not matter one bit. It's in computer case, I use GPU for gaming. I look at the monitor, not at my GPU while I'm gaming. Show piece pc would be different that is supposed to be only looked at and never played on. Coil whine is way bigger factor for me.

[@realkk]

The heatsink maybe purposely raised to touch the backplate for heat transfer

[@nvm9294]

Bought it 1 month ago, amazing temps and performance. I had to hide the "game rock" logo with black tape because I don't like it.

[@larrya2909]

At first sight I would not buy something so gaudy, but again, the "diamonds" would not be visible with traditional mounting. Still, I can't bring myself to consider it.

[@TheGrendel87]

I had the 3070 GameRock and now I have the 3090 GameRock. I just love this design. Mi friend love it to as they bought both 3070 I had. It goes perfect with the TridentZ Royal RAM.

[@holobolo1661]

It's not what I'd choose for my build but I think it looks really cool, except for the "game rock" font on the backplate - doesn't seem to fit with the rest of the aesthetic to me.

[@thomasluggiero3413]

This is like one of the best looking cards on the market. Year after year they keep it beautiful! Matches trident t z royal ram! Diamonds

[@gertjanvandermeij4265]

I think it LOOKS very nice ! But that is the thing about taste ! Everyone have different taste ! I personally LOVE it !

[@canofnestea]

A "Bling Ring" themed build incoming? Get some gold and platinum coloured components and make a groovy apple pie.

[@cyberwomble7524]

If you were looking to do a 1997 Batman & Robin Mr Freeze theme this card would be perfect.

[@StambeccoAllaFragola]

Best Christmas card of the decade?

[@volvo09]

Can use it in an ice village themed case build.

[@selfscience]

I think it’s quite creative to put a light spreader to multiply the light instead of multiplying the led number and make it an adornment. I think it will fit many stetics of builds.

[@ChielScape]

Why have you only hired one person with good taste? Goes well with the Trident Z Royal. Need more tacky crystal texture hardware pls.

[@enlightendbel]

That bend may actually help with internal airflow.

[@Alexandra-Rex]

This card looks better than most cards IMO.

[@25MHzisbest]

"OmniBlack a real art piece and a powerful gaming gear even with no RGB lights." Down at £1249 today at OCUK.

[@lcb01a]

The Gainward Phantom has an identical backplate but with a different color. You could do a comparision of Gainward vs Palit. I bet the card is identical apart from the RGB

[@_Mattz1nho]

The pump out effect might be worsened by the bend in the card.

[@Skop_p]

if it didnt have all the "game rock" text on it. its a really nice looking card