GPUs with PCB Form ATX

[rupert.le.bear]

Can anyone tell me whether GPUs motherboard form specific? i.e:

1) If a card says it is "PCB Form: ATX" - can it still plug into a PCIe 3.0 micro ATX or mini ITX motherboard (assume yes it otherwise fits into the case and the power supply is sufficient).

2) If the answer above is no, cards are ATX, micro ATX and mini ITX specific, why is Gigabyte the only provider who states the PCB Form of its cards?

MANY THANKS FOR ANY HELP - PS IM A NUUB TO PC BUILD SO JUST DOING MY HOMEWORK TO AVOID ANY UNPLEASANT SUPPRISES :'(

Background: I'm wanting to build a GTX 770 system using the SG08 Silverstone case, so a single card. Alternatively I will use the SG10 case and an mATX motherboard rather than an mini-ITX as would be in the SG08.

The card I'm considering is a Gigabyte GTX770 4GB: http://www.pccasegear.com/index.php...=23808&zenid=18e8940bffc7d08a6e41a67b8de44342

It says its PCB Form is "ATX" - will it work on a PCIe 3.0 mATX or mITX motherboard?

 

[stahlhart]

Welcome to the AnandTech forums.

Pretty much the way you have to do your homework here is either know or measure the GPU's two critical dimensions (card height, card length), then determine it if can mechanically fit in the case.

Some lower profile cases restrict the height of the card, which really limits your choices, as you have to sacrifice a lot in terms of cooling to meet the half-height form factor... a lot of times it's the card length in a mid tower, and whether or not it will bump into something like the HDD bay or cover badly located SATA ports.

Sometimes even the height of the cooler (e.g. number of motherboard slots covered) needs to be considered.

 

[Eureka]

The only standard for video cards is the PCI-e bus. That being said, as long as you have a PCI-e x16 bus, the revision doesn't matter as much as they are backward compatible (with performance losses).

I think the ATX statement is just to ensure that people who haven't checked aren't going to try to cram a 11" card into a extra small case. As long as you have a relatively new board (anything for nehalem or newer), all modern video cards should play nice.

 

[rupert.le.bear]

Thanks to you both.

I had a hunch that was the case as all the build videos etc I've watched had never mentioned any such specification and it seems only Gigabyte include a PCB Form spec for their card details.

Re power supply: the SG08 comes with a 600w PSU. Nvidia recommends a minimum of 600W for GTX770s. In your experience is it better to have more than the recommended minimum.

I plan to have an i7-4770K (or just 4770) and only one ssd and hdd so will not be chugging much power elsewhere (plus all the fans I can fit). Am I likely to face power shortages?

If so I'm likely to just go with the SG10 which doesn't come with a PSU so I can get bigger PSU.

Re fit: I'll be double checking the dimensions but recall that both cases could otherwise fit it. The CPU heatsink is another matter though.

 

[Eureka]

Silverstone 600W is going to be plenty for a GTX 770. Silverstone makes excellent power supply units. The GTX 770 should only draw around 200W of power at peak.

I had a i5 + 7970, and it was drawing around 400W from the wall.

Also, if you can't fit the heatsink, you should consider AIO water cooling (Corsair H60i, etc). Will be easier to fit in a case, as long as you can mount a 120mm fan somewhere.