Gigabyte unveils mini-ITX GeForce GTX 970, doesn't skimp on performance

Shawn Knight

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gigabyte geforce gtx nvidia geforce small form factor gaming graphics card sff gtx 970 miniitx

Moving from a full-size ATX computer to a microATX or even a miniITX system oftentimes means you have to make compromises, especially in the area of gaming. Gigabyte, however, aims to keep small form factor users in the game with its new GeForce GTX 970 Mini-ITX graphics card.

Surprisingly enough, it appears as though Gigabyte didn’t have to make a ton of sacrifices in order to build a card that’s about half the size of a regular GTX 970. The card, model number GV-N970IXOC-4GD, features a 1,076MHz base clock with a Boost clock of 1,216MHz (reference GTX 970s run at 1,051MHz base with a Boost up to 1,178MHz so it’s still overclocked). There’s also 4GB of RAM on tap.

gigabyte geforce gtx nvidia geforce small form factor gaming graphics card sff gtx 970 miniitx

The card is cooled by three large heatpipes (two are 8mm thick, the other is 5mm thick) that feed heat from the GPU core to an array of densely packed aluminum fins. A single 100mm fan is tasked with dispelling heat from the fins. In addition to the PCIe slot, the card requires a separate 8-pin PCIe power connector.

Gigabyte claims the card runs around 62C while running the Metro Last Light benchmark versus a reference card’s temperature of 76C. It’s no doubt impressive but we’ll reserve final judgment when we can get our hands on a sample for review.

The dual-slot card includes one HDMI 2.0 port, two dual-link DVI ports and three DisplayPort 1.2 connectors.

One might expect a specialized card like this to carry a premium price tag but you’d be wrong. Gigabyte is pricing it at just $329.99 in the US with plans to ship starting early next month.

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Holy crap, this appeals to my very soul of building ITX computers... this is so bad I want one right now and the connectivity is a dream... to replace my watercooled GTX570 or hold off for my complete rebuild... hnnnnnng.
 
For me, in most cases, when I was investigated, a half-length card isn't much more useful than a full length card, as the case either supports full length dual slot cards or single slot expansion cards...Idk. I guess its still nice to have the extra room in a case that supports full length cards though?
 
Man, this is great. I've been trying to convince my friend who has an old system that's been looking to upgrade to finally pull the trigger, and he's been in the eternal battle of performance and space requirements (since he's looking to get rid of his full tower and move to an almost HTPC set up). He's been worried about loss of gaming ability, but this is just the product for him. Sendingthe link right now.
 
For me, in most cases, when I was investigated, a half-length card isn't much more useful than a full length card, as the case either supports full length dual slot cards or single slot expansion cards...Idk. I guess its still nice to have the extra room in a case that supports full length cards though?

I assume you mean in a standard mid-sized or larger case? For compact Mini-ITX systems (which this card is designed for) this is amazing.

It is more useful in the sense that it will actually fit and allow a small compact gaming system to pack a lot of punch!
 
I assume you mean in a standard mid-sized or larger case? For compact Mini-ITX systems (which this card is designed for) this is amazing.

It is more useful in the sense that it will actually fit and allow a small compact gaming system to pack a lot of punch!
I was referring to mini-itx. In most cases I had seen, the case either supported a small, single slot explansion card (HTPC cases) or full size double slot cards where it wouldnt matter if it wasent as long (CM elite 130, etc). I haven't actually seen a case that wanted shorter, double slot cards. Correct me im wrong :p
It is nice though. Id like to see some more console-shaped/sized MATX cases come out of these things though :I
 
I assume you mean in a standard mid-sized or larger case? For compact Mini-ITX systems (which this card is designed for) this is amazing.

It is more useful in the sense that it will actually fit and allow a small compact gaming system to pack a lot of punch!
I was referring to mini-itx. In most cases I had seen, the case either supported a small, single slot explansion card (HTPC cases) or full size double slot cards where it wouldnt matter if it wasent as long (CM elite 130, etc). I haven't actually seen a case that wanted shorter, double slot cards. Correct me im wrong :p
It is nice though. Id like to see some more console-shaped/sized MATX cases come out of these things though :I

Ohh right I see what you are saying but there are plenty of good Mini-ITX cases that support shorter dual-slot cards such as the Xigmatek Nebula.

http://www.xigmatek.com/product.php?productid=219

Even with our modification the longest/most powerful graphics card we could get in there at the time was a GTX 760.

Most newer Mini-ITX cases have been made slightly bigger to accommodate bigger cards. Hopefully with the arrival of this Gigabyte card we will see truly compact Mini-ITX cases that can hang with the big boys.
 
Quick update. I asked Gigabyte for a sample and they say they are not sampling this card and probably won't. Seems odd but that is from the horses mouth.
 
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