During Computex next week Albatron will launch its new range of PCI graphics cards; yes, you read that correctly, PCI graphics cards. Albatron is hardly one of the big players these days, but the company has found its own little niche in the market with these new PCI cards.

The two cards, on the pictures below, are based on Geforce 8500 GT and 8600 GT GPUs, and Albatron will also have an 8400 GS-based PCI card. Both of these cards feature a DVI and HDMI connector, with the 8500 GT sporting an S/PDIF connector, although we're not sure if it's input or output, while the 8600 GT has an additional TV-out connector. The 8400 GS card had DVI, D-sub and TV-out.

Both of these cards feature GDDR3 memory and a one and a half slot cooler, although it's hard to see from the picture below. The cooler might be the only drawback of these cards and as Albatron will provide a low-profile brackets with these cards, as well.

The cards use a PCIe to PCI bridge from Pericom which is located at the back of the cards and this small chip doesn't need any additional cooling. We're not sure which exact model it is that Albatron is using, as Pericom has a couple of different models available.

For anyone with an older PC or an ex. office system or even a VIA Epia board, these cards are the ideal upgrade option. That's even more convenient if you don't want to splash out on a new system but still want to be able to do some casual gaming, build an HTPC out of that old system or use a VIA Epia board for watching HD video.

The pricing is still a mystery, but the cards will be available early next month from Albatron, although it might take a couple of weeks before they hit retail.