Gigabyte has announced a new miniature graphics card based around NVIDIA's GeForce GTX 970 GPU. The upcoming card is a dual slot, single fan design that is even shorter than the existing GTX 970 graphics cards (which are fairly short themselves). Officially known as the GV-N970IXOC-4GD, the miniaturized GTX 970 will be available for your small form factor (Mini ITX) systems in November for around $330.
The new Mini ITX compatible graphics card packs in a factory overclocked GeForce GTX 970 processor, 4GB of video memory, a custom PCB, and a custom WindForce-inspired cooler into a graphics card that is smaller than any of the existing GTX 970 cards. Gigabyte is using a custom design with a single 8-pin PCI-E power connector instead of two 6-pin connectors from the reference design or the 6-pin plus 8-pin from manufacturers like EVGA. The single power connector means less cabling to route (and successfully attempt to hide heh) and better small form factor PSU compatibility. The cooler is an aluminum fin array with three copper heatpipes paired with a single shrouded fan.
The tiny card comes factory overclocked at 1076 MHz base and 1216 MHz boost, which is a respectable boost over the reference specifications. For reference, the GeForce GTX 970 processor is a 28nm chip using NVIDIA's GM204 "Maxwell" architecture with 1664 CUDA cores clocked at 1051 MHz base and 1178 MHz boost. It appears that Gigabyte has left the 4GB of GDDR5 untouched at 7.0 GT/s.
| Gigabyte GTX 970 Mini ITX |
Reference GTX 970
|
|
|---|---|---|
| CUDA Cores | 1664 | 1664 |
| Core (MHz) | 1076 | 1051 |
| Core (MHz) Boost | 1216 | 1178 |
| Memory | 4GB | 4GB |
| Memory Rate | 7.0 (GT/s) | 7.0 (GT/s) |
| Memory Width | 256-bit | 256-bit |
| Architecture | Maxwell | Maxwell |
| Process Node | 28nm | 28nm |
| PCI-E Power | 1x 8-pin | 2x 6-pin |
| DirectX Version | 12.0 | 12.0 |
The display output on the miniature Gigabyte card differs slightly from the reference design with the addition of a DVI-D connection.
- 3 x DisplayPort
- 1 x HDMI
- 1 x DVI-I
- 1 x DVI-D
According to Gigabyte, its custom cooler resulted in lower temperatures versus the reference design. The company claims that when running Metro: Last Light, the Mini ITX Gigabyte GTX 970 GPU ran at 62°C versus a reference design hitting 76°C running the same game. If true, the Gigabyte cooler is capable of keeping the card significantly cooler while taking up less space (though fan speeds and sound levels were not mentioned, nor compared to other custom coolers).
The small form factor friendly GTX 970 is coming next month with a MSRP of $329.99. Are you excited?
I got SUCH A RAGING CLUE
I got SUCH A RAGING CLUE RIGHT NOW… UHHHH…
Seriously, the existence of this card could prove to me that there is a Santa Claus.
That is pretty impressive, I
That is pretty impressive, I wish I had money to blow on computer parts like I used too…
A compact GTX 970 with even
A compact GTX 970 with even more ports than the reference design, and it runs cooler, and there’s a modest overclock?
I’ll take two.
This is the first time I can
This is the first time I can really say that the enthusiast has a mini-itx graphics option. It’s a card that can max out any game at 1080p and fit inside a case the size of a toaster. It also doesn’t eat up a lot of power so an sfx power supply isn’t cutting it as close.
I know that there has been 760’s, and 670’s in this size but this one is running a 970 so it’s going to be a lot faster.
The only thing that worries me is the fan noise.
Now if someone would
Now if someone would manufacture a watercooling block to fit the entire board I would really want it.
Mini-ITX format, watercooled mini-GPU +CPU and a 200x200m radiator makes for a very neat package.
Might need to make a custom case for it but that is not an issue
Man you and I are on the same
Man you and I are on the same page here.
I’m already planning out my next build and here is what im thinking:
mATX Z97 board /w i5-4690k CPU in an Aerocool xPredator Cube mATX case.
I could buy 3x H55 all-in-one liquid coolers, mount 2 of them to these gigabyte itx sized GTX 970’s with the NZXT Kraken X31 mounts.
The cabling would be clean, it would stay super cool, and it would be quiet.
I’m diggin that.
While it’s neat that it is a
While it’s neat that it is a half-length board, it will only work in LARGE Mini-ITX cases. Until they can deliver a half-length, low-profile version, the GTX 750 Ti will be the true mITX king.
If they really wanted to i
If they really wanted to i think they could pull it off with this card. Just limit the video out to like 1x HDMI & 3x mDP.
That would be amazing.
That would be amazing.
Gee, I and have a pair of
Gee, I and have a pair of mini ITX GTX 760’s made by ASUS sitting in my machine right now. Makes me with ASUS would come out with mini ITX GTX 970’s to give Gigabyte some competition.
My Zotac 970 (non-AMP model)
My Zotac 970 (non-AMP model) is just slightly longer than a mini-ITX motherboard, 204 mm vs 170 mm. It is easily heard under load, but not obtrusively so.
Running a pair of short dual slot 970s will require a microATX motherboard or the very rare DTX type (170 mm by 203 mm with 3 expansion slots).
Got one, custom case with
Got one, custom case with ‘limited’ airflow at the moment… not all modifications done but love to play with toys before project is finished. paied with 1230v3 @ 3.5 (max turbo hold allowed on 3.7 turbo cpu w/ mobo) on an asrock h97mitx get 32k 3dmark06, 9200 firestorm. 2.2 gig Ramdisk via 850 evo 500 gig, 16 mb 1600 ram @ 8-8-8-24, stock voltages, acer 27″ g-sync 1080 (xb270h)
I have this card ! It gets 72
I have this card ! It gets 72 celsius while playing war thinder on max settings…
Its a good card, but it can be very loud!