I need to cram a gtx 970 into a HTPC case. Any suggestions?

[Jeffsta]

Finding a gtx 970 card that will fit in my GD05B Silverstone Case is my issue. I'm using a Gigabyte GA-Z97MX-GAMING LGA1150 mATX motherboard.

Not relying on measurements from GD05B case specs, I took some measurements. I have this EVGA 750ti card currently installed. Specs for that card are 4.38" tall. I have exactly 0.5" of space between top of that card and top of case.

Length of new 970 card should be 10.4", 10.5" max I think (Otherwise I might run into other issues, as system/PSU wires run along front of case) I might be able to rework/reroute them, but I'm unsure without trying, and would only get maybe 0.5" more if even possible.

I was liking this ASUS TURBO-GTX970-OC-4GD5. It would have worked perfect, but then I noticed they had PCIE plug on top. I've never owned a card that required a plug before, so I'm not sure if that's normal. Seems like an odd place to put it.

The Asus GTX970-DCMOC-4GD5 mini could work, but would be sucking in air from a 2-3 inch gap between the card & my psu. I'm worried about airflow restriction with this method, where as the longer card like the Asus turbo's fan would be right inline with my left intake fan on case.

Any suggestions? I really don't want to change my case, because I really like it.

Thanks

 

[warhead0]

The mini Asus would be the best method I believe.

 

[MarkW]

As per the Nvidia web site, the reference GTX 970 is:

GTX 970 Graphics Card Dimensions:
Height 4.376 inches
Length 10.5 inches
Dual-width

That fits what you said you needed.

The other thought that came to mind when I read what you posted was that the new AMD flagship video card, the AMD Radeon Fury, due to be announced Monday at the E3 gaming convention, and reportedly will be available the following week will only be 19cm long, or 7.48 inches long. They were able to keep the card that short due to the use of stacked HBM (High Bandwidth Memory) on the GPU package, instead of GDDR5. There are four HBM stacks next to the GPU, each containing 1GB of memory, and each contributing a full 1024 bits to the memory bus. In total, the memory bus is 4096 bits wide, and while the memory only runs at 1Ghz, the massive bandwidth more than makes up for the slow speed, and the memory bandwidth ends up being 512GB. This is the first GPU on the planet to use HBM. The 4 smaller rectangles in the image below are the HBM stacks.

It helps when you can eliminate all the GDDR5 memory both in power consumption and board space. They were able to move the power circuitry closer to the GPU, and chop a huge section of the typical video card length off.

Next year, both AMD and Nvidia will be releasing more video cards using HBM, the HBM on those cards will be version 2, which will incorporate DDR technology. So even if the stacks do not go higher (and then can), and the speed of the memory does not go up (and it can), those HBM v2 stacks will transfer double the data rate.

 

[davmazin]

the smallest one you can find is the zotac gtx 970 wich has about 8.5 inches or less the problem is the cooling since you will need good airflow or get an aftermarket cooler that works with that model since the card runs hot (with gta v and other games i can reach 81 Celsius or a bit more if i keep my case closed also my case is the antec 300) also the price on the card is about 309$ i think (dunno if the amp version has the same size)

 

[galeener]

ZOTAC ZT-90101-10P GeForce GTX 970 4GB 256-Bit DDR5 PCI Express 3.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support G-SYNC Support Video Card
8.03 length x 4.38 tall 2 6 pins are on top though but it should work for you. $309.99 new egg
Also this its a little over 6 inches long but not sure of heighth GIGABYTE GV-N970IXOC-4GD GeForce GTX 970 4GB 256-Bit GDDR5 PCI Express 3.0 HDCP Ready Video Card

 

[Jeffsta]

As per the Nvidia web site, the reference GTX 970 is:

GTX 970 Graphics Card Dimensions:
Height 4.376 inches
Length 10.5 inches
Dual-width

That fits what you said you needed.

It sure does, I just went over there to look after you said that. Thinking newegg had it wrong, I just checked on Asus website. They show the TURBO-GTX970-OC-4GD5 like newegg (10.4 " x 4.76 "). None of the other 970 cards I've seen yet match the NVidia 970 size specs either. Am I missing something here?

BTW, I was just reading an article on that AMD HBM stuff last week here at toms site. The article said it was around the corner, but I had no idea they meant a couple weeks. There will be limited user reviews for a while, so dependability/performance will be a question. I wonder how expensive they will be. Will the price of the 970's drop as a result?

 

[MarkW]

The pricing on the Fury cards is still not known. Maybe we will find out Monday. The 300 series card prices have leaked, but as with any leak, take it with a grain of salt until AMD tells us.

http://wccftech.com/amd-radeon-300-series-pricing-confirmed-aggressive/

The rumored release date is June 24th, so 8 days after the announcement. And I tend to believe the 300 series cards will be available on that date. The Fury cards might be available that day too, but AMD might push the release on those back a little bit to make sure they do have the "Fastest Video Card on the Planet" title. For AMD, the need for these cards to sell, and sell big is vital. So they need that title for bragging rights, and the free publicity that holding that title brings.

 

[Jeffsta]

Just so you guys/gals know, I'm here and paying attention. I'm just a slow typer (also getting keyboard lag all the sudden). Plus looking up the cards you are posting.

Is Zotac a decent brand? I've heard of them. But for most people who are not worried about card size, I never here them as recommendations. It always seems to be Asus, Gigabyte, MSI, EVGA usually.

Thanks

 

[MarkW]

Zotac is huge in Asia. I owned one of their cards 15 years ago or so, and had no problems with it. No experience since then though. But generally, I have a good impression of their hardware.

 

[Jeffsta]

The pricing on the Fury cards is still not known. Maybe we will find out Monday. The 300 series card prices have leaked, but as with any leak, take it with a grain of salt until AMD tells us.

http://wccftech.com/amd-radeon-300-series-pricing-confirmed-aggressive/

The rumored release date is June 24th, so 8 days after the announcement. And I tend to believe the 300 series cards will be available on that date. The Fury cards might be available that day too, but AMD might push the release on those back a little bit to make sure they do have the "Fastest Video Card on the Planet" title. For AMD, the need for these cards to sell, and sell big is vital. So they need that title for bragging rights, and the free publicity that holding that title brings.

That article said what I was wondering. All Geforce cards are going to drop in price after Radeon 300 series comes out at the end of this month. Otherwise, people will go buy Radeon 300 series cards for same price, because they will get way better performance per $. Bad time to buy a card I guess.

I wonder if Radeon 300 series will still use a lot of power. My 550W PSU is what had me looking at 970's.

 

[Jeffsta]

If those prices are correct, I could upgrade my PSU and buy the best 300 series card (R9 390X 8GB for 389$), and it would still cost less than a 980. It would outperform a 970, and fit better in my HTPC case.

However, if I can find the right 970 (Still looking at suggestions), I should be able to get it dirt cheap in about 2 months.

 

[MarkW]

I know. Those prices have me wondering about things too. There are supposed to be 3 different Fury cards. One waterblock cooled. One air cooled, and then a cut back air cooled version. I have a funny feeling that cur back air cooled Fury might get listed at about $450, and it should be real close in performance to the 980ti if I am guessing right. On the other hand, I could be as nutty as my portrait tries to make me look... 😛

 

[RobCrezz]

Asus GTX 970 mini is probably the best option at the moment.

 

[Jeffsta]

Asus GTX 970 mini is probably the best option at the moment.

I'm leaning towards that one at the moment.

- It says no SLI support (No big deal for me, because I don't want to SLI)

- Unlike some other 970 cards, it does not have 3D VISION Game Ready. Is this important? I have no idea what this is, or if it matters.

Using newegg comparison tool, all other specs (except for size of course) are the same as the Asus Turbo.

 

[MarkW]

3D vision was (is) a 3D version of gaming that just like with 3D TV's, never caught on, and its been a very long time since I have even seen a 3D monitor come on the market. But these companies love to continue to tick off the checkboxes, even if nobody uses those features. Gotta love PR people sometimes. They could sell ice to eskimos and smile the whole time.

 

[RobCrezz]

Asus GTX 970 mini is probably the best option at the moment.

I'm leaning towards that one at the moment.

- It says no SLI support (No big deal for me, because I don't want to SLI)

- Unlike some other 970 cards, it does not have 3D VISION Game Ready. Is this important? I have no idea what this is, or if it matters.

Using newegg comparison tool, all other specs (except for size of course) are the same as the Asus Turbo.

Looks like SLI could be used, it has the connectors. Should support 3d vision, probably just been missed in the spec list.

 

[Jeffsta]

The Asus Mini has a 8 pin plug on top too. After looking at the specs again, it won't work either. That will cause the same problem as the Asus Turbo. I happened to think that maybe they make a 90 degree 8 pin PCI plug. Doing a quick search gave me many results. I'll have to look and see which one will work best (lowest profile).

Also, after finding out that AMD will launch their new cards soon, I have a month or so to figure this out before prices drop on the 970's.

Thanks for your help everyone.