Short graphics card

[TerryMathews]

I'm looking for a card with a length not to exceed 7.7", for gaming. I'm looking to spend $100-150, new or used.

I've been out of the game for a while. It looks like the reference 4850s and 5600/5700a, and the GTS450s. What else should I be looking at?

 

[zaydq]

The GTX 660TI is about that size but it sits at $300. Might wanna wait until the 660 comes out.

You're better off waiting until you have more money as opposed to getting older tech.

Its hard to find anything that small thats half decent for gaming.

 

[lakedude]

660 is out now:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...e=679%3A289343

But a 660 is way out of the price range...

 

[lakedude]

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/gaming-graphics-card-review,3107-3.html

This is a good guide on video cards for the money.

6850 looks solid, what is your monitor's res?

 

[Arkadrel]

7.7" is short.....

Too short for a 6850-6870 (even the shorter models I could find), so I thought of the 7770's.

These are like ~7.5-7.6"

MSI R7770-PMD1GD5 Radeon HD 7770 GHz Edition (costs ~109$)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814127687

newegg says:

Card Dimensions: 7.6" x 4.37" x 1.5"

This is a pretty sick card, dispite its small packageing.
Its also the highest performance/watt card on the market in its performance bracket

(easier to cool).


So it ll be good for small mini ITX cases for people, that want to throw in a discrete gpu.



-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

@lakedude + @zaydq


660ti is around 9.5"
6850 is around 8.4"

NEITHER (6850 or 660ti) are small enough, nore are they the price range he wanted.

The 7770 is the best answear,its small enough + right price and has new 28nm gen features and low power usage ect.

 

[Arkadrel]

@TerryMathews

Im convinced the fastest card you can find that ll be under 7.7" is a 7770.
(I went looking at nvidia 460's, 6850/70's. 560's ect... nothing is under 7.7 and as fast as this card)
Its also the best performance/watt card in that price backet range.

In short, its a no brainer.

 

[lakedude]

Good find! I spaced the short requirement (too many tabs open). 2nd vote for 7770!

 

[Jen]

palit 560 ti was shortest card i owned previous to that was a 5770 powercolor also was short. palit also made a 460 video card short

Jen

 

[TerryMathews]

@TerryMathews

Im convinced the fastest card you can find that ll be under 7.7" is a 7770.
(I went looking at nvidia 460's, 6850/70's. 560's ect... nothing is under 7.7 and as fast as this card)
Its also the best performance/watt card in that price backet range.

In short, its a no brainer.

This does look like a winner.

Also, to clarify: this isn't a mini ITX. Its a poorly laid out motherboard. CPU HSF is in line with the x16 slot.

 

[ShintaiDK]

@TerryMathews

Im convinced the fastest card you can find that ll be under 7.7" is a 7770.
(I went looking at nvidia 460's, 6850/70's. 560's ect... nothing is under 7.7 and as fast as this card)
Its also the best performance/watt card in that price backet range.

In short, its a no brainer.

Zotac GTX 670 TwinCooler at 177.8mm

 

[Slate1]

This does look like a winner.

Also, to clarify: this isn't a mini ITX. Its a poorly laid out motherboard. CPU HSF is in line with the x16 slot.

Out of curiosity, what motherboard are you using? That sounds like a very strange, non-standard layout to me.

 

[Arkadrel]

@ShintaiDK

Wow... a 670 thats what? 7.1" ?

But how much does it cost? I tried and couldnt easily find anywhere to buy it,
but most 670's are in the 400$+ range.

He was asking for a card around 100-150$, though, so its out of his price range.

***edit: that is insane! how the hell they manage to make a 7.1" 670?
is it running at lower than stock speeds? does it get insanely hot? really loud?

 

[TerryMathews]

Out of curiosity, what motherboard are you using? That sounds like a very strange, non-standard layout to me.

It belongs in a 1u server chassis.

 

[5.0inaYota]

@ShintaiDK

Wow... a 670 thats what? 7.1" ?

But how much does it cost? I tried and couldnt easily find anywhere to buy it,
but most 670's are in the 400$+ range.

He was asking for a card around 100-150$, though, so its out of his price range.

***edit: that is insane! how the hell they manage to make a 7.1" 670?
is it running at lower than stock speeds? does it get insanely hot? really loud?

All reference 670 pcb's are that short, the cooler hangs off the end on them that's what makes them 9.5" or so. That Zotac looks pretty cool, first time I have seen it. I would think it would run nice and cool with those 2 fans on it, probably pretty quiet too.

 

[bigsnyder]

If you can manage another 0.5", some of the 7850s are around 8.2"

 

[TerryMathews]

If you can manage another 0.5", some of the 7850s are around 8.2"

It's so close, I just don't think the space is there but that's so close it would come down to how the card was measured. If 8.2" was from the slot cover back, 8.2" might stop immediately short of or touch my second CPU HSF.

To get that close, I would have to buy from a place where I could return it if it didn't fit, or find someone that would loan me one to test fit...

EDIT: I've got an eVga 8800GTS that's 1 1/8" too long, and according to the spec sheet it's a 9" card...

 

[bigsnyder]

My MSI R7850 is right at 8.2" measuring from inside the bracket. This even includes the power connector (since the HSF shroud is a little longer than PCB).

 

[TerryMathews]

I found a 7.8" 7850 that might fit. My question is, is it worth paying double? Looking over the specs, it doesn't look as though the performance is anywhere near that.

I'm also thinking about the long-term economics: If I buy a $200 video card now, in two years it will be worth about $75 based on market history. If I buy a $100 video card, it will be worth $50.

I will suffer less depreciation on the 7770 I believe and I'm not convinced that the performance is that much different. Looking over Anandtech's GPU12 benches, overall the 7770 appears to be 2/3s as fast as the 7850, especially if I commit myself to not doing memory-bandwidth intensive things like 4xFSAA at 1080p.

Does anyone have a dissenting opinion? I've been out of PC gaming since the GeForce 6800GT was hot, so I'm certainly not trying to pretend like I know what's up. I do however understand the kinds of tradeoffs I'm talking about.

My goal is to make it on this rig for two years and then move on to a new, purpose-built desktop PC. My expectation is to play on Medium-ish now, trending towards Low at the end of my lifespan. I think that's a realistic view on this class of video card.

 

[Arkadrel]

Honestly as long as you dont mind playing at 1680x1050 or something (in order to keep every graphic setting max'ed and still have abit of AA) there shouldnt be any games that wont give you a satifactory experiance with a 7770 (+ tiny OC).

 

[RussianSensation]

Zotac AMP! GTX660Ti is 7.5 inches

Here it is vs. what it looks to be a monster GTX670!