Question Which Versions Of The GTX 1650 Will Fit In My SFF Optiplex 790?

[DellvlloN]

Hello, Guys and Gals! I have a SFF Optiplex 790 (the one that actually has the 2 PCI-Express slots)

I definitely want to upgrade this system; got a great deal on it as it came with the I7-3770s, 8GB of DDR3 RAM and a 500GB Mechanical Hard Drive. I then installed a 256GB Crucial SSD without having to sacrifice the DVD-RW; my PSU came with a second power head on the cable leading to the hard drive, so I simply used it as the power source for my SSD, ran the original drive's SATA cable to the SSD and then added an extra SATA cable to the original mechanical drive. I positioned the SSD underneath the mechanical drive, lowered the caddy back into position, and voila, but I digress.

The problem I am now faced with is finding an appropriately sized 1650 to fit inside of my case. Given that the Gigabyte GTX 1050 TI OC Windforce Low Profile version that I know will fit in this system (I've built one already), I was originally just going to use that same card again, but now I am seeing that many of the 1650 cards are selling for around $20.00 more, so I figure "why not upgrade?" I've been eyeing this particular card: ASUS GeForce GTX 1650 Phoenix OC Edition (PH-GTX1650-O4G) because it APPEARS to be the same size as the aforementioned 1050 TI and I've found it for under $150 new, so I'd like to buy it, but I am trepidatious due to my inability to confirm that card will fit in my system, or if it even comes with the low profile bracket.

Given the system is a SFF computer, I will have to rely on the PCI-Express slot for full power and I would like to stay between the $130-$150 range. Can some of you guys give me some feedback here? I'd greatly appreciate it.

 

[DellvlloN]

I figure that all the major brands likely have similar failure rates. So I usually just buy whatever has the longest warranty and is cheapest with the specs I'm looking for. When looking for a GPU, I usually don't bother with overclocked or "gamer" editions either, since their performance is usually within 1-2% of each other.

Yeah, I'm not worried about boost clock speeds, either. What I am primarily concerned with is temperature and the quality of the cooling systems. I have, however, come to find that I've had better luck overclocking with EVGA cards. I don't know if it's merely being fortunate enough to have hit the silicon lottery (if you believe that actually carries over to GPU's) or if EVGA simply has better cooling designs on their cards. I've had GTX 1050 ti variants of both EVGA (3 of each) and 2 Gigabyte versions; the EVGA cards were able to be clocked much higher with minimal temperature changes, whereas the Gigabyte cards would get substantially hotter while not coming close to the EVGA settings.

I'm primarily building these computers for friends who want 60FPS 1080p gaming on high settings. I might have mentioned this earlier, but I like introducing folks to affordable entry-to-moderate-level gaming in affordable, prebuilt systems (most think gaming PC's absolutely have to cost upwards of $1,000, so they are blown away when I show them these small little 1080p powerhouses. Lately, the Optiplex SFF rigs (the 790s, 990's, 7010, 7020, 9010, etc.) have been gaining interest because they are small enough to be portable and look like common boring systems, so there's a lesser chance of theft, and they can still play most games competitively. I honestly don't make too much on these builds, but it does generate interest, which in turn, has boosted my little niche market in my hometown and I enjoy tinkering around with them, too.

Sorry for rambling, I love talking tech.

 

[DellvlloN]

I figure that all the major brands likely have similar failure rates. So I usually just buy whatever has the longest warranty and is cheapest with the specs I'm looking for. When looking for a GPU, I usually don't bother with overclocked or "gamer" editions either, since their performance is usually within 1-2% of each other.

Hey guys. I didn't forget about this post, but I have had a LOT going on. I wanted to come back and give you guys an update. I did buy and receive the Gigabyte GTX 1650 (the GDDR6 variant), installed it played around on it for a little bit just to see what the system could do. I installed Afterburner just so I could use RivaTuner to monitor temperatures and, as you guys suggested, it didn't take long at all for the card to start thermal throttling.

It was a great little system being compact as it was, but the card being less than a half-inch away from the PSU made temperatures rise pretty quickly... and mind you, this was in a room where the temperature was 69f. Since I lack a dremel or any press tool that can make adequate ventilation ports, I decided to pull the card and place it in a larger Optiplex 7010. The panel comes with ventilation etching on both the CPU and the GPU areas, so I swapped out the i7-3770s from the Optiplex 790 and replaced it with the i5-3570 that came out of the Optiplex 7010. Once I got everything swapped over, I booted the system back up, and the airflow was substantially better and the thermal throttling was no longer a factor. I'm happy to say the system runs fantastically for its purposes (even with the side panel on) and I am glad that I was able to get the GDDR6 card when I did.


I would like to thank everyone who took the time to read this and offer up insights and suggestions; namely Third-Eye, Math Geek, Phaaze88, and gamenadez. Your time and tips are greatly appreciated, and that, in itself, is even understated. Blessings be!