Published on 19th January, 2024
Nvidia’s 4000 generation has delivered a huge step forward in power efficiency, bringing back excitement to the SFF PC space. Recent innovations such as a low profile version of the 4060 from Gigabyte means AAA gaming is now a realistic option for tiny half height systems.
HT5 Photo credit: @devyn.johnston | _heavygrain
Aside from ultra expensive workstation graphics cards the best low profile gaming options we’ve had since 2017 were the GTX 1050 and 1650 models, effectively meaning the 4060 allows for around 3 – 4 times more FPS than was previously possible for budget conscious half height systems.
ASUS also recently stepped into the ring with their own 4060 LP version, however at 188mm in length it’s 6mm longer than Gigabytes version.
https://www.asus.com/motherboards-components/graphics-cards/asus/rtx4060-8g-lp-brk/
We are looking into potential modifications to the HT5 (Lazer3D’s low profile ITX case) to make it fully compatible with both RTX 4060 LP models, currently the HT5 is compatible with the Gigabyte version only, stay tuned for updates.
Like RGB, every trend has it’s day, and hopefully the days of behemoth graphics cards is nearing its end. In a world growing ever more energy conscious it’s baffled me why the gaming industry has been going the opposite direction with each generation, leading to longer, thicker cards with more fans to handle the massive amount of heat output, making it increasingly difficult to build small and quiet gaming PCs.
Thankfully with the decreased TDP’s this generation across most 4000 tier levels we’re seeing some interesting new models coming to market, including a “short length” RTX 4070 model from Gigabyte, making it the most powerful sub 205mm length fan cooled graphics card on the market.
GeForce RTX™ 4070 WINDFORCE 2X OC 12G Key Features | Graphics Card – GIGABYTE U.K.
The Gigabyte RTX 4070 X2 Windforce OC measures 202mm long, 122mm tall and 2.5 slots width, it’s powered by 1x 8Pin power connector and has a TDP of 200w.
Although the card itself will fit no problem into the LZX-8, the card is 122mm tall which leaves only 14mm clearance to the top of the case for the PCIe power cable. This may fit using your standard power supply cables, but it will be a tight fit and you may benefit from using a low profile adapter which can be purchased from Amazon for low cost.
Outside of the US the Gigabyte 4070 Windforce X2 OC has limited availability currently, hopefully they will make it widely available in more regions soon. It can be purchased on Amazon HERE.
If we manage to get our hands on we’ll be sure to post some testing in the LZX-8 here, stay tuned!
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