Gigabyte first with Geforce GTX 970 for Mini ITX

When Nvidia introduced the Maxwell architecture in the performance class, it was clear that the newcomers not only run past the predecessors but also succeed with the feat of combining high performance with very low energy consumption. The Geforce GTX 970, for example, stays at a modest 145 W TDP, which makes the graphics card an option even in very compact computer systems. Gigabyte is first out with a model for the form factor Mini ITX.

The new graphics card is called Gigabyte GV-N970IXOC-4GD and according to Tomshardware measures only 12 centimeters in height, which is admittedly not the standard height, but still lower than previous solutions on the market. The length of the graphics card is not clear, but judging by the pictures, the circuit board is as long as the Mini ITX, ie 17 centimeters.

The menu features the Nvidia GM204 graphics processor with 1,664 CUDA cores, 256-bit memory bus and 4 GB of memory. Despite the small format, the clock frequencies are increased to 1,076/1216 MHz, slightly higher than the reference model’s 1,051 / 1,178 MHz. However, the memory frequency remains at 7.0 GHz GDDR5.

Gigabyte also uses its own cooler, which in many ways resembles a scaled-down variant of Windforce 3X. This includes a total of three heat conduction pipes, of which two with a diameter of 8 mm and a thinner pipe of 5 mm. For the air flow stands a solitary fan with wavy fan blades and “fins”.

Last but not least, you can see the power supply via 8-pin PCI Express and video connections for two DVI, three DisplayPort and an HDMI. The graphics card connects to PCI Express 3.0 x16 in the usual way and blocks an extra card slot.

The Gigabyte GV-N970IXOC-4GD will be on store shelves in November and the price stays at $ 329.99, which is the same as for the reference model. This means that the graphics card should land at around SEK 3,500 at Swedish retailers.