Gigabyte GTX 970 Mini-ITX (and discussion for other small 970 cards)..

AFD

AFD

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Gigabyte Builds First Mini-ITX GTX 970 Graphics Card (Oct. 20, 2014)

When the GTX 980 and GTX 970 from Nvidia came along we were very impressed with, among other things, the low TDPs. Now, it seems that thanks to the 145 W TDP of the GTX 970, Gigabyte has been inspired to build a Mini-ITX variant. Yes, you read that right: Gigabyte built a Mini-ITX GTX 970. Its model number is GV-N970IXOC-4GD.
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Gigabyte GV-N970IXOC-4GD (GTX 970 Mini-ITX)
1076 / 1216 MHz OC
Single 8-Pin PCIe power
2x DisplayPort, 2x DVI, 1x HDMI
ETA: Early November
MSRP: $329

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About f'ing time! Personally, I would've liked to have seen a more enclosed cooler that exhausts out the PCI bracket, similar to the Sapphire R9 285 ITX and the ASUS/MSI 760 ITX cards. And I'd gladly pay an extra $10 bucks for a damn backplate (like the old MSI has). But since the other mfg's have been neglecting this form-factor during the 2nd-gen Maxwell launch, I guess I'll take what I can get. MSI and ASUS would be wise to make an announcement ASAP, if they've got something similar in the works.

If anyone else has an interest in small 900-series cards, feel free to discuss this and any others (ZOTAC ZT-90101-10P, Inno3D N97V-1SDN-M5DSX, etc).

Thanks to Siba for the heads-up! ;)
 
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It's a nice card, worthy of note that the heatpipes extend over the PCB but that shouldn't matter considering the power connector's height.
If they'd only included an L-shaped 8-pin extension and/or 6 + 6-pin to 8-pin adapter.

It surprises me this came from Gigabyte before ASUS or MSI, which both will probably take way too long to materialize.
 
I wonder if there is more to it then simply designing and manufacturing a card for this form factor.

Asus made a GTX 670 ITX, MSI a GTX 760 ITX, and Gigabyte a 970 ITX. Notice how each AiB partner only did one generation, and no other AiB partners made ITX versions (I'm aware of anyways).
 
Asus had the GTX 670 and GTX 760 (but hard to come by) and the GTX 970 has only been out for less than two months.
There is no real pattern to determine from that.
 
Now that is good news. After hearing there was no development for a 170mm 970 from MSI and the lack of comments from Asus, I thought an ITX version was gone for good. Bravo, Gigabyte.

Hopefully it will include a 90° 8-pin adapter. Next on the agenda, a waterblock to fit.
 
If it uses a reference design, this should fit, as will most GTX 670 and GTX 760 reference-design full-cover blocks.
 
I think the board is a custom design as the 970 reference is full length with connectors on the back. Manli has it for sale althou prolly in limited markets.
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FFS! If you're using it in a HTPC, you don't need the DVI ports! So get rid of them and improve the card's cooling.
 
Quartz-1 said:
FFS! If you're using it in a HTPC, you don't need the DVI ports! So get rid of them and improve the card's cooling.
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Agree. I've been using an HDMI-to-DVI cable I bought for $5, and it works great in either direction (DVI to TV, or HDMI to monitor).. even transmits audio!

Is there any scenario where DVI is still necessary?
 
AFD said:
Is there any scenario where DVI is still necessary?
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Running dual-link monitors. HDMI is single link (well, HDMI-A is. I've never seen HDMI-B in the wild). At high resolutions, you're either operating it as out-of-spec (clock over maximum) single-link DVI, or out-of-spec (non-conformant resolution, timing and/or colourspace) HDMI.
 
EdZ said:
Running dual-link monitors. HDMI is single link (well, HDMI-A is. I've never seen HDMI-B in the wild). At high resolutions, you're either operating it as out-of-spec (clock over maximum) single-link DVI, or out-of-spec (non-conformant resolution, timing and/or colourspace) HDMI.
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Thanks! And you can't accomplish DisplayPort to dual-link DVI without a $100 active adapter?

Just don't understand why most 900-series cards are fine with 1x DVI, but this tiny ITX version needs 2x DVI ports.
 
A single fan will have to spin quite hard to cool a 970. All the other open shroud cards use 2 or 3 fans.
 
flopticalcube said:
A single fan will have to spin quite hard to cool a 970. All the other open shroud cards use 2 or 3 fans.
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It should be fine if it doesn't get above 10°c ambient where you live. For the rest of us who live outside Canadia, I.e Australia, it'll be a problem, especially when we're coming into summer over here. I'm predicting it won't be as bad as the Asus 670 mini, but considering the high temps and fan RPMs I've experienced with mine, it needs a bit of a boost, hence my desire to see a waterblock for it. An AIO kit would be nice to see.
 
Quartz-1 said:
FFS! If you're using it in a HTPC, you don't need the DVI ports! So get rid of them and improve the card's cooling.
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This is a gaming card first, for an HTPC a GTX 750Ti will do just fine. If you need more power than that, you need a gaming card and those (luckily) take into account that most gamers use monitors, not TV's.

Slots in the bracket wouldn't help much with cooling, that only matters much when you have a blower-fan that forces the air through the bracket. This open-style cooling solution blows it through the heatsink and over the card's PCB, so you need some extra airflow in your case to get rid of it properly.
 
AFD said:
Thanks! And you can't accomplish DisplayPort to dual-link DVI without a $100 active adapter?
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If it's a DP port, yes. If it's a DP+ port, then it has the driving hardware for DVI behind it and you can use a passive adapter.
 
It kills me that no one is doing a SFF card without any DVI - they could shroud the card and put an exhaust vent in the place of those two DVI ports.

Also, it looks like 3 displayport and one HDMI output? Plus two additional DVI outputs? Don't these cards have a limitation where only one DVI output can be used at a time, or is that up to the board manufacturer?

And with the orientation of the fins on the heatsink, any air running through them is just going to run in to the DVI ports anyways, and wind up circulating around until it gets blown out in some other random direction - not really the best solution for a small case.

Of course, the Zotac and Inno3D cards aren't much better - they have an exhaust vent but their fins are vertical, so air between them isn't being directed to the vent anyhow. Not bad if you have an SFF case with ventilation above the video card, like an SG05 or CM 110/120/130, so at least that's an option.
 
Best port arrangement would have been like the Palit/PNY/Gainward blowers where all the ports sit in the first slot and the second is completely open to venting. It can use up to 4 ports at once, DVI or otherwise.
 
That's really interesting! I've been running an MSI reference 780 in my 250D with no problems whatsoever. I'd love to see this new ITX version become a mainstream trend by the time the next round of hi-end GPUs are released.

I'm still using DVI-D, so that's not an issue for me. I'd have no problems switching to DP if DVI goes away.
 
Crap. Found this posted over at Guru3D (Hilbert was trying to get a review sample)..

Gigabyte explained to me today that this product is intended for SI only (system Integrators) and thus that makes it an OEM product. Hence there are no samples and there is no retail availability.

I've explained that this is exactly the kind of product a lot of consumers would purchase with Mini ITX and Micro ATX being hip form factors. They seem interested as to what I explained so they still might release a batch for end-users. Will keep you guys updated if anything should change.
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Fucking jackasses. :mad:

C'mon MSI.. about time to throw up a teaser pic on your FB page.
 
rawrr said:
I think someone above said that MSI had no plans for one :(
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Yeah, I noticed that too.. but haven't seen such a statement anywhere else.

I've asked the MSI rep here about it twice, and both times he's only stated that he cannot comment on future or speculative products (never said they weren't working on one, though).


A 970 ITX card is something these guys should be shipping right now, and not a SKU that arrives a year after the 970's launch, like they did with the 670 and 760 mini cards.
 
First retail listing of the Gigabyte 970 ITX (GV-N970IXOC-4GD)..

http://www.cyberport.de/?DEEP=2E21-28Y&APID=4

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Also, Greg over at NCIX US stated this yesterday..

Yeah, we'll be carrying them. Expected sometime next month at the moment.
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EDIT: And also available for pre-order at OCUK, with an ETA of Oct. 31..

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-153-GI&groupid=701&catid=1914&subcat=1010

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Thanks Rawrr! Now why would there be a product shot showing a retail box, for a product that is supposedly OEM for system integrators only??
 
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Are those supposed to be vents near the bottom of the bracket? o.0
 
Hmm, now we have to decide who's right, Greg at NCIX or Hilbert at Guru3D..
 
So it vents hot air out the back, and at the the front it just flies out all over the place because the DVI ports are in the way, and a tiny bit makes it out of the itty bitty vents at the bottom of the port clusters?

Sure, that works for a small form factor system. :rolleyes:
 
It's not a blower-fan so it will just flow away from every available opening under and through the sides of the heatsink. Like most non-reference cards.
 
Yeah. I'm still holding out hope for a RADAX 970 ITX card from ASUS or MSI sometime soon..

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Not a true blower cooler by any means, but would still allow at least some of the hot air to exit out the PCI bracket. And the backplate.. I know damn well I'm eventually gonna scrape the PCB trying to get my somewhat largish C12 cooler in and out of my comparably smallish M1 case at some point :eek:

I'd be willing to pay at least an extra $20 to $50 for that design versus the Gigabyte (probably more, but shhh ;)). Dunno.. if the Gigabyte actually becomes available next month, I'll probably be buying one asap if ASUS & MSI still haven't announced anything.
 
Gigabyte GTX 970 (GV-N970IXOC-4GD) officially announced in Japan at "NVIDIA GIGABYTE Roadshow in Autumn" (Oct. 25, 2014)..

http://ascii.jp/elem/000/000/946/946794/

http://akiba-pc.watch.impress.co.jp/docs/news/news/20141023_672847.html

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Availability in Japan is expected in early November with an MSRP of ¥42,980.


Yeah. I'm starting to think that the info Guru3D received from Gigabyte reps about this being an OEM part for system integrators only was bullshit.. perhaps covering for the fact that Tomshardware might have released the info ahead of schedule? Really don't see why they would be making announcements and having a product page up, showing a retail box, for something that supposedly isn't intended for retail.


Japanese pre-order listing..

http://www.pc-koubou.jp/goods/1176138.html

Chinese pre-order listing..

http://product.pconline.com.cn/vga/gigabyte/577755.html

US / Canadian pre-order listing..

http://www.ncix.com/detail/gigabyte-geforce-gtx-970-oc-6d-103049.htm
 
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CAD$409.... The Zotac or EVGA cards would be better value and likely quieter as long as you could fit them.
 
I am surprised how small the new cards are. Just replaced an R9 290 with an EVGA 970 SC and it is like 2 inches shorter and lots lighter.
 
flopticalcube said:
CAD$409.... The Zotac or EVGA cards would be better value and likely quieter as long as you could fit them.
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NCIX price is $409 CAD and $409 USD, which is probably high because it's a pre-order.

Actual MSRP is supposed to be $329 USD.. exactly the same as the cheapest 970 cards.
 
Bad news. No 970 ITX in the works from MSI..

Eugene Kuo said:
Unfortunately, no, we dont have any plans currently for an ITX version :(
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Guess I'm definitely buying the Gigabyte 970 ITX asap, if they don't flake out on retail availability and make it SI-only :rolleyes:
 
flopticalcube said:
Nothing from EVGA either.
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Wow, that's really surprising that MSI & EVGA aren't working on one. Guess we need to find Raja @ASUS and see what's up on their end.

Thanks for the additional bad news Floptical, appreciate it!
 
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At least from this image from the Gigabyte product page there look to be four Samsung RAM? chips on the backside of the board, so reference water blocks for the 670/970 would not work, right? That would mean that block manufacturers would have to develop a cooler specifically for this card. I'm tempted because of the very small size, but might have to go for a larger card to use a water block on an Ncase M1 build.
 
You can also tell its not reference because of the extra width and the use of one 8 pin instead of two 6 pin.
 
AlphaG said:
At least from this image from the Gigabyte product page there look to be four Samsung RAM? chips on the backside of the board, so reference water blocks for the 670/970 would not work, right? That would mean that block manufacturers would have to develop a cooler specifically for this card. I'm tempted because of the very small size, but might have to go for a larger card to use a water block on an Ncase M1 build.
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The PNY/Palit/Gainward/EVGA blowers all appear to be 670/770 PCBs and are about the same length. I believe at least some of them have been confirmed to take the ref waterblocks.
 
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