Palit Group is one of the world’s largest graphics card makers and it has several leading brands under its control. Except from Palit and Palit Multimedia there is also Galaxy and Gainward. Palit Group has made some harsh statements against graphics circuit manufacturer AMD. The center of the criticism is that AMD is way too strict when it comes to making custom graphics cards.
Specifically Gainward, which is widely known for its overclocked graphics cards, is very disappointed with how AMD has treated the company. The problem isn’t just that AMD prefers not to see any non-reference solutions, but that it also gives bigger partners advantages.
“The sources cited their decision to go with custom-built GeForce GTX275 from day one, and not offering a reference based product. We asked what about ATI Radeon 4890 and 4770 parts, and the answers were surprising and go in the line of ATI not allowing them to release an overclocked or a custom PCB-based product until top tier partners do the same.”
Gainward was also punished for an earlier “breakaway” with Radeon HD 4850 where it equipped the card with GDDR5 memory, against AMD’s will. After some tough negotiations this contributed to the fact that AMD chose not to supply Palit and Gainward with any 4890/HD 4770 chips.
Now it looks like Palit might abandon AMD and only focus on NVIDIA’s graphics circuits. NVIDIA is apparently not as restrictive as AMD, even it too keeps a close eye on its partners.
