Any GTX970 with rear facing power connectors?

[Qbah]

Hi, I'm looking for a GTX970 for a friend who's upgrading his GPU for The Witcher 3 (he has a HD6850 now, got it to play The Witcher 2). He has an Antec NSK-2480 case, so his cards can't have their power connectors facing up (they won't fit, the case won't close).

He has a Core i5-750 (Lynnfield) with a Scythe Shuriken CPU cooler and an Corsair AX850 PSU (I built it). The system is whisper-quiet (the PC is under his TV in the living room - a 1080p HDTV), so the card also needs to be very quiet in idle.

Any GTX970s that fit this requirement? I looked around but all the ones I found have the connectors on top... He doesn't want to spend any more than a GTX970 costs and wants best performance for that money.

Thanks!

 

[Termie]

Neither Nvidia nor its partners manufacture boards with that configuration anymore. Some Radeons may still have it, but they are also typically taller, which will lead to the same problem.

Best way around this may be to buy a new case. Consider the GD05 - it may have enough space. It can take cards up to 4.92", which gives about 0.5" above a standard Nvidia PCB for connectors. Still tight, but possible.

 

[Qbah]

Thanks!

He loves the Antec case I might convince him to cut out a hole in the top cover, where the power connectors are. There's a 2cm clearing between the top of the case and the top of the closet he keeps the PC in, so that should be enough...

It's a shame they don't make such configurations... any specific reason for it?

 

[xthetenth]

How tight is the fit, would a right angle adapter for the PCIE cables work?

 

[Techhog]

Thanks!

He loves the Antec case I might convince him to cut out a hole in the top cover, where the power connectors are. There's a 2cm clearing between the top of the case and the top of the closet he keeps the PC in, so that should be enough...

It's a shame they don't make such configurations... any specific reason for it?

I'd assume lack of demand.

 

[Qbah]

How tight is the fit, would a right angle adapter for the PCIE cables work?

Very tight. For example, an ASUS DCII cooler won't fit, its heatpipes stick out too much and they're like 1cm over the PCB. So that adapter would need to have a few mm tops.

 

[xthetenth]

1 cm might work, but it'd be real close based on rough guesses from what I saw.

 

[Techhog]

Very tight. For example, an ASUS DCII cooler won't fit, its heatpipes stick out too much and they're like 1cm over the PCB. So that adapter would need to have a few mm tops.

Well, start with the shortest card you can find.

 

[Termie]

Thanks!

He loves the Antec case I might convince him to cut out a hole in the top cover, where the power connectors are. There's a 2cm clearing between the top of the case and the top of the closet he keeps the PC in, so that should be enough...

It's a shame they don't make such configurations... any specific reason for it?

Actually, I think the original reason Nvidia (and now AMD) went in this direction is that cards kept getting longer, making it impossible to fit them in certain cases due to conflicts with drive cages. So they made them taller (by mounting power connectors on top), which works fine for ATX cases, but doesn't work as well in HTPC cases.

 

[LTC8K6]

I believe the R9 285 has a rear facing connector.

The XFX black is relatively short, too.

Sapphire makes a short version as well.

 

[EliteRetard]

http://www.ebay.com/itm/PCI-E-8-pin...-with-low-profile-4-Made-In-USA-/251029888932

Something like this might do the trick...

 

[ShintaiDK]

I dont think you find any modern card with sidefacing connectors. So either that connector if it works or consider a new case.

 

[LTC8K6]

Just looked and the R9 285 does have a rear connector and it's quite a leap over an HD6850.

 

[Qbah]

http://www.ebay.com/itm/PCI-E-8-pin...-with-low-profile-4-Made-In-USA-/251029888932

Something like this might do the trick...

Thanks! That might actually work!!

He wants TW3 to look as best as possible, so I'd rather he goes nVidia this time (some nVidia-specific visual enhancements will be in the game).

 

[Fox5]

http://www.ebay.com/itm/PCI-E-8-pin...-with-low-profile-4-Made-In-USA-/251029888932

Something like this might do the trick...

Yeah I got something like that for my HTPC case. Later on, I upgraded to a less constrained HTPC case though.

 

[LTC8K6]

Why pay for a cut down connector, though?

Just cut it yourself.

It should be easy enough to release the pins and remove the wires.

 

[xthetenth]

Thanks! That might actually work!!

He wants TW3 to look as best as possible, so I'd rather he goes nVidia this time (some nVidia-specific visual enhancements will be in the game).

If he's buying now, the pretty good thermals of the nV cards and being able to get TW3 free with it are both pretty compelling.