How to get a proper (from my POV) GPU?

[Miroslav Nikolov]

My current GPU is a GTX 1060. It is a from a pre-built PC I bought in 2017. It looks like this:
i(dot)gyazo(dot)com/1d59058b27a726c7a7b12a40f0d2d3f7.jpg

Replace the (dot) with a regular dot. Don't blame me for the link, blame the site that doesn't allow me to neither embed the image or post the link. [redacted]

I absolutely love this GPU because it is small (ITX) and it doesn't have any of those stupid plastic things around it. I think it's the HP version of the 1060, but I don't think they sell those separately.

I've had 2 other GPUs before on other builds, both AMD, and it was a terrible experience. One of them was DOA, the second one R9 290 I believe, shorted out after less than a year of use. Idk if it's AMD, and it very well could be. Both of them were the typical versions with 2 fans and plastic coverings, taking and unjustified amount of physical space and weight.
This 1060 i've had has been functioning perfectly for over 4 years now and still is reasonably capable.

I was looking at some of the new GPUs and I'm absolutely disgusted by their size and power consumption. Anything bigger than what you see in the picture above is unacceptable. I don't want any of those fancy panels and I don't want a GPU that weighs 15 pounds with god knows how many fans. People say that plastic and backplate make it more durable, but that's not true based on me experience. My GTX 1060 has seen some rough treatment over the years and it still works. Generally I'd argue that the bigger and heavier the GPU is, regardless of what protective panels it has, it is significantly more prone to damage. For once, the installation is harder to perform as it makes it harder to see what you're doing. Then the weight itself makes it more likely to damage the GPU or motherboard in case you try to insert/remove it inefficiently, accidentally hit it etc..

So, hopefully you get what I want to upgrade to. I want a card exactly like my gtx 1060 or smaller, similar or lower power consumption, and for it be noticeably more powerful. I want a "chip with a simple cooler on top of it" - nothing more, nothing less.

I'm thinking I will have to wait till the RTX 4000 and Radeon 7000 series because the current cards don't meet my expectations. Yeah they may be more powerful, but size and power consumption wise - absolutely not worth it at all. Though I still don't know where I can find GPUs like mine that haven't been turned into toys by brands like ASUS, MSI etc. If a GPU needs 3 fans and a 15 pound cooler, then it shouldn't be released in the first place because it is a failure for regular users. This is why I'm no longer interested in those really high end graphics cards, and I'm leaning way more towards these mid range small and efficient cards.

 

[Lutfij]

First off, you can host your images on a site like Imgur or their ilk but I've added the image to your post, without the need to upload it to our site.

Second, you're advised to mention your current specs like so:
CPU:
Motherboard:
Ram:
SSD/HDD:
GPU:
PSU:
Chassis:
OS:
Monitor:

If your system is a prebuilt, then mentioning the make and model as well as it's SKU will aid us in identifying what you have to work with. There are factors involved with your GPU purchase since a small case might impede what you can and cannot use, same goes for the PSU. Similar story with the motherboard's PCIe slot.

You will also need to provide your location, your preferred site for purchase and your budget for your GPU purchase if your system specs check out.

 

[drivinfast247]

tl;dr the OP is looking for a small, single fan, bus powered GPU from Nvidia that's more powerful than the 1060.

 

[DRagor]

I want a card exactly like my gtx 1060 or smaller, similar or lower power consumption, and for it be noticeably more powerful. I want a "chip with a simple cooler on top of it" - nothing more, nothing less.

Such things no longer exist.

 

[Miroslav Nikolov]

Something like this is basically what I'm looking for:

https://www.amazon.com/PowerColor-Radeon-Gaming-Graphics-Memory/dp/B09PSHYHLM/

The only problem with the RX 6050 is that it sucks and it's AMD, which like I said I've had nothing but bad experiences with . That one may have a plastic thing on top, but it's overall small and doesn't have a backplate, so I could live with it I guess. But yeah, that's what a GPU should look like in my opinion.

Such things no longer exist.

You mean they've reached a point where they can't make them more powerful without extra power and size? If that's the case then how come you have the mobile RTX 3060 close in performance to the desktop one, even though it's 1/5th of the size (without even coolers taken into consideration). I mean hell, can I get a laptop GPU in my PC lol? Like I said those gigantic GPUs are just crazy, and the sacrifce is not good enough to justify the performance .

 

[Miroslav Nikolov]

First off, you can host your images on a site like Imgur or their ilk but I've added the image to your post, without the need to upload it to our site.

Second, you're advised to mention your current specs like so:
CPU:
Motherboard:
Ram:
SSD/HDD:
GPU:
PSU:
Chassis:
OS:
Monitor:

If your system is a prebuilt, then mentioning the make and model as well as it's SKU will aid us in identifying what you have to work with. There are factors involved with your GPU purchase since a small case might impede what you can and cannot use, same goes for the PSU. Similar story with the motherboard's PCIe slot.

You will also need to provide your location, your preferred site for purchase and your budget for your GPU purchase if your system specs check out.

This was more of a question of where I can find "ordinary" GPUs like mine sold separately, as well as a rant. I'm not in a hurry to upgrade.

 

[drivinfast247]

You mean they've reached a point where they can't make them more powerful without extra power and size? If that's the case then how come you have the mobile RTX 3060 close in performance to the desktop one, even though it's 1/5th of the size (without even coolers taken into consideration). I mean hell, can I get a laptop GPU in my PC lol? Like I said those gigantic GPUs are just crazy, and the sacrifce is not good enough to justify the performance .

And that 3060 is more powerful and consumes more power than the 2060 it replaced. And that 2060 is more powerful and uses more power than the 1060 it replaced. It's almost like more processing power requires more electrical energy.

And that mobile 3060 is NOT as powerful as the discrete version.

If you want the performance of a full size GPU that's where you're gonna find it.

 

[DRagor]

You mean they've reached a point where they can't make them more powerful without extra power and size?

Well, maybe they can, but just don't want to. Most people are looking for performance without considering size/power used so that's what they deliver. Seen the new 3090TI? It's a size of brick, and weights like a brick. Most likely all 4000 series cards will follow this trend, even the entry level models.

you have the mobile RTX 3060 close in performance to the desktop one

You don't have, never had, and never will have mobile GPUs close to desktop versions. In theory their capabilities might seem close. In practice, not so much. Because of power and cooling requirements, neither of which laptop can deliver in quantity required.

 

[Miroslav Nikolov]

Well, maybe they can, but just don't want to. Most people are looking for performance without considering size/power used so that's what they deliver. Seen the new 3090TI? It's a size of brick, and weights like a brick. Most likely all 4000 series cards will follow this trend, even the entry level models.

You don't have, never had, and never will have mobile GPUs close to desktop versions. In theory their capabilities might seem close. In practice, not so much. Because of power and cooling requirements, neither of which laptop can deliver in quantity required.

Yeah I saw the size of the 3090. I should be able to build a whole PC inside of that case in the year 2022 lmao.
As for the other thing you said where people don't care about power and size, if that's true idk what to say. One thing I'll tell you is that I hate highly specialized groups of anything. Gamers, developers, creators etc. Why? It's exactly because of that. All they care about is one thing or a set of related things and nothing else matters. I on the other hand care about everything, which is also reflected in the fact that I'm a jack of all trades kind of person and somewhat of a perfectionist.

 

[drivinfast247]

Yeah I saw the size of the 3090. I should be able to build a whole PC inside of that case in the year 2022 lmao.
As for the other thing you said where people don't care about power and size, if that's true idk what to say. One thing I'll tell you is that I hate highly specialized groups of anything. Gamers, developers, creators etc. Why? It's exactly because of that. All they care about is one thing or a set of related things and nothing else matters. I on the other hand care about everything, which is also reflected in the fact that I'm a jack of all trades kind of person and somewhat of a perfectionist.

You can build/buy PCs that are the size of or smaller than a 3090ti but they're not in the same realm of graphical processing power.

A GPU is a number crunching device. It does complex equations and many of them at a time. Weather it's used for gaming, rendering, or simulation depends on the person using it. Some GPUs are focused more on simulation/AI and lack any display output.

And regarding processing power vs. size, go back in time just a few decades and see where we've come. Some of us carry more processing power in our hands(smartphone) than could fit in an entire room not that long ago.

Until technological advancements are made/discovered, more processing power means more energy used means more heat. More heat requires larger cooling capacities needed. That's just how it works right now.

 

[Satan-IR]

Yeah I saw the size of the 3090. I should be able to build a whole PC inside of that case in the year 2022 lmao.

On a different note (and not for gaming or other graphic-intensive purposes of course) but technically you could actually do that (fit a PC in a brick-sizes space or even smaller) in 2019 with Raspberry Pi 4 and run Windows 10 and other OSs like Linux distros. Even in 2015 Raspberry Pi 2 ran Windows Embedded and other OS.

 

[Miroslav Nikolov]

On a different note (and not for gaming or other graphic-intensive purposes of course) but technically you could actually do that (fit a PC in a brick-sizes space or even smaller) in 2019 with Raspberry Pi 4 and run Windows 10 and other OSs like Linux distros. Even in 2015 Raspberry Pi 2 ran Windows Embedded and other OS.

Yeah I know that, but i'm taking a capable PC that can game, render etc. Small, yet capable and modular / configurable things give me a huge nerd boner.

I think a good idea for those really big GPUs could be to have them in an external case specifically dedicated to the GPU. You could connect it to the PC with a power and PCI extension cords. That way you get way better cooling, really easy to clean dust and since your using cord extensions instead of thundbolt (which doesn't provide power), you not going to face some of the power and general connectivity issues I've seen thunderbold people complain about. Plus, your PC doesn't even need thunderbolt + all the space you're freeing up.

I might have to consider this because i can't accept the idea of having something as big as a 3090 directly connected to my motherboard. The power and PCI extensions cords could go through the back of the PC case (where GPU ports typically go) and wallah.

 

[drivinfast247]

Yeah I know that, but i'm taking a capable PC that can game, render etc. Small, yet capable and modular / configurable things give me a huge nerd boner.

I think a good idea for those really big GPUs could be to have them in an external case specifically dedicated to the GPU. You could connect it to the PC with a power and PCI extension cords. That way you get way better cooling, really easy to clean dust and since your using cord extensions instead of thundbolt (which doesn't provide power), you not going to face some of the power and general connectivity issues I've seen thunderbold people complain about. Plus, your PC doesn't even need thunderbolt + all the space you're freeing up.

I might have to consider this because i can't accept the idea of having something as big as a 3090 directly connected to my motherboard. The power and PCI extensions cords could go through the back of the PC case (where GPU ports typically go) and wallah.

Show me a PCI-E extension cord.

 

[Miroslav Nikolov]

Show me a PCI-E extension cord.

What is there no such thing? I was just brainstorming in that comment, but I found this on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Thermaltake-AC-053-CN1OTN-C1-Gaming-Extender-Components/dp/B06Y5YNGDJ

and I'm pretty sure there should be plenty of these in general. I mean why not? I have also found power supply extension cords in the past too.

 

[SkyNetRising]

This was more of a question of where I can find "ordinary" GPUs like mine sold separately, as well as a rant.

GTX 1060 power consumption is 120W. It has 6pin PCIE power connector.

With similar power consumption there is GTX 1660 Ti. Also ~120W.
A bit better performance than GTX 1060. About the same as GTX 1070.

There are mini models for this card.

PH-GTX1660TI-O6G｜Graphics Cards｜ASUS Global

ASUS Phoenix graphics cards pack as much performance as possible into a compact design that offers a wide range of compatibility with small chassis. A powerful single-fan solution fits into the footprint and makes the most of your chassisâ cool air intake. Whether youâre upgrading an outdated...

www.asus.com

https://www.gigabyte.com/Graphics-Card/GV-N166TIXOC-6GD#kf

GeForce GTX 1660 Ti AERO ITX 6G OC

The power of a full size graphics card in an incredibly small package. MSI AERO ITX graphics cards are perfect for small form factor systems and HTPC’s as they only take up a fraction of the space of a full size graphics card.

www.msi.com

 

[Satan-IR]

The trend which I think is a bit less steep due to gaming PC enthusiasts and miners and such was kind of moving towards cramming everything on a single board in a box. Like gaming consoles with OSs that can handle other kind of use and functionality too. Or moving towards making laptops. Put everything in there, solder on board so use can't do jack and that's that.

But we all know laptops and consoles can't work quite like desktops even with same or similar hardware because of thermal issues. You run the same discrete GPU in a laptop with same clocks and volatges as its cousins in PC and you should have a fire extinguisher handy.

I don't think that's gonna happen soon; I mean a "capable" system on 1-2 boards with much less power consumption and less heat generation etc.

Yes the power consumption trajectory changed from dual GPU cards which could work as space heaters and fortunately these days more powerful GPU doesn't mean a 1.5KW graphics card. Anyway if you want more performance the wattage and heat come into play inevitably.

Connecting graphics cards with cables to motherboards over a certain distance would complicate the whole setup further and create more places where things can go wrong. Wrong gauge cables that can't hand the current/bandwidth. More contact points for currents as high as 30amps (x12V). Users using older cables that came with a 90W card on a 300W card etc.

And modularity of desktops means interchangable components that can be easily changed or upgraded, even by user at home. If the graphcis card is built into the motherboard it's less space and all that, maybe better connectivity and even higher bandwiths etc. but bad GPU would force you to throw away the whole system. Same goes for RAM, CPU etc.

TL;DR It is what it is.

 

[drivinfast247]

What is there no such thing? I was just brainstorming in that comment, but I found this on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Thermaltake-AC-053-CN1OTN-C1-Gaming-Extender-Components/dp/B06Y5YNGDJ

and I'm pretty sure there should be plenty of these in general. I mean why not? I have also found power supply extension cords in the past too.

That's a riser cable. Made to go inside a case and not move around. And regarding the power cables they would have to be the correct guage for the length and current they'd be carrying.