Gigabyte made the tiniest GeForce GTX 1080 card yet
Go small with your 4K, gaming or VR rig.
NVIDIA has been shrinking gaming laptops with its Max-Q graphics initiative, but what about desktop users who want high-end graphics in a discreet, portable case? Gigabyte has come up with the GeForce GTX 1080 Mini ITX 8G, an unwieldy name for the world's smallest GTX 1080 graphics card. At just 16.9 cm (6.7 inches), it's nearly four inches shorter than a regular model, so it can be tucked into a Mini-ITX case (6.7 x 6.7 inches), as the name implies. Yet, it packs the same power as any other GTX 1080 desktop card, letting you do 4K video, gaming and VR with ease.
In a card that size, the main trick is cooling, so Gigabyte used copper composite heat pipes and a 90mm fan with a custom blade design. Despite the compact size, you'll hear nary a decibel when the system is running under a light load, thanks to 3D Active fan tech. Gigabyte also supplies software for one-click overclocking so you don't have to futz around to get more speed.
There's no mention of availability or pricing, but don't expect a discount just because it's smaller -- it might even cost more because of the engineering required to shrink it. Hopefully, that'll be offset by the lower cost of ITX components, and should be worth it for a very portable machine that (for now) can still blow away any laptop.
