Are the days of single-slot (stock, air) cards all but gone?

[Comdrpopnfresh]

Will the 9800GT be the last front-running graphics card to come in a single-slot configuration?
Any news about current cards coming out in single-slot, or next-gen cards being single-slotted?

 

[Qbah]

I'd say the fastest single slot card now is the HD4850. I don't recall any 9800GTX+ cards to be single slot (which would give you a choice between nV and ATi at around the same level). And there aren't definitely any higher level cards with such small cooling.

 

[Leyawiin]

Even with a 9800 GT or HD 4850 I'd be looking for a dual-slot, exhaust the heat from the case third party cooler. Considering how powerful GPUs have become in the last few years (and how much heat they produce in the process) I'd rather play nice with the rest of my components. Its not like I need those PCI slots anyway.

 

[Slugbait]

I believe this question was first asked three to four years ago. The FX5800 was one of the first dual-slot cards, and people thought that was the immediate future back then.

So the answer to the topic title is no.

 

[nitromullet]

Originally posted by: Leyawiin
Even with a 9800 GT or HD 4850 I'd be looking for a dual-slot, exhaust the heat from the case third party cooler. Considering how powerful GPUs have become in the last few years (and how much heat they produce in the process) I'd rather play nice with the rest of my components. Its not like I need those PCI slots anyway.

Yep. totally agree with this. Dual slot is the way to go even if it isn't absolutely necessary.

 

[Sylvanas]

Nothing wrong with the high end single slot cards. A 4850 will do just as well as a Dual slot deriviative, what you are paying for in a dual is exhausting the heat outside. Yes, these days a single slot will probably raise your case temps over a Dual, but nothing like where it will be detrimental to stability.

 

[FalseChristian]

Once they can figure how to minimize or stop current leakage which gets greater with every die shrink cards are going to to get hotter and hotter. So, Dual-slot cooling is here to stay.

 

[nerp]

There will always be single slot cards. COnsider the single slot 4850 being much faster than dual slot cards from a few years ago. . . I think this trend will continue for the time being.

 

[Davegod]

I think there will be single slot cards for the foreseeable future, certainly while motherboards still do SLI and Crossfire requiring single slot cards!

That said I usually prefer dual-slot coolers, they cool better and quieter. Well, not necessarily, there can be crappy dual-slot coolers, but there's a lot more opportunity to do it well with more space.