Introduction
In Singapore where land is scarce and proper space management in a housing unit is always exercised, gamers prefer to build small form factor computer systems rather than huge mega rigs. Small form factor computers usually come in Micro-ATX or Mini-ITX form factor. For those who really want a simple computing unit, mini-ITX should be the right way to go. However, a gamer should always look at Micro-ATX system builds. Additionally, a SFF microATX case and a decent gaming graphics card should get the job done.
Problem? It’s difficult to find a regular sized gaming graphics card for high end small form factor computers. Luckily, ASUS has just launched a regular sized GTX670 into the global market, allowing this shorter than reference card beast to be installed in small form factor computers.
This “Mini-Size GPU” is based on GTX670 from NVIDIA. It has a custom PCB sized at only 17cm, and also features a new version of DirectCU cooler with copper base vapor-chamber technology.
Specifications:
Model: Asus GTX670-DCMOC-2GD5
Graphics Engine: NVIDIA GeForce GTX670
Bus Standard: PCI-Express 3.0
Video Memory: 2GB GDDR5
GPU boost clock: 1006mhz
GPU base clock: 928mhz
CUDA cores: 1344
Memory clock: 6008mhz [1502 MHz GDDR5]
Memory interface: 256 bits
Dimension: 6.7″ x 4.8″ x 1.6″
Inside the box
The card comes with fundamental accessories which includes
1. A User Manual
2. Driver CD containing GPU Tweak Utilities
3. One 2x6pin to 1x8pin GPU power connector
GTX670 Mini – Powerful and Cool?
The GTX670 Mini has graphics interfaces as follow:
1. DVI-I
2. DVI-D
3. HDMI 1.4
4. Display Port
Simply put the card to a single PCI-E x16 slot on the motherboard to install it into the system.
GTX670 Mini supports quad-SLI, and 4 of these card can be put together in a single system for the ultimate gaming rig. GTX670 can be mix and matched together with other regular GTX670 for SLI Configuration as it is essentially a GTX670.
Teardown
This card uses a 4+1 power phase. There are colour coded boxes in the above image to show the specifications of the components on the card.
Red: 4x Hynix memory chip
Orange: 1 phase for VRAM
Green/Blue/Purple/Pink : Each coloured box represents a single phase each for the GPU core
The card uses Hynix H5GQ2H24AFA chips. A total of 8 memory chips are found on the card giving the card a total of 2GB GDDR5 VRAM. These memory are interfaced at 6Gbps.
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| NVIDIA GK104-325-A2 GPU |
ASUS used High Quality MOSFETS, specifically two red 4937N MOSFETS and a single blue 4955N for different requirements. These MOSFETs have very low RDS.
Purple: This card is configured with solid capacitors which are made in Taiwan
Pink Richtek RT8867A PWM 4-power phase controller
The new version of DirectCU cooler comes with copper base with vapor-chamber technology. Within the main heatsink, it appears that ASUS has used a combination of an aluminium base plate which essentially cools the memory chip and VRM.
Temperatures
With 20 minutes of stress test on Furmark, Asus GTX 670 Mini DirectCu manage to keep the card cool at 57% of fan speed, resulting in an eventual 79 degree Celsius.
Benchmarks
ASUS P8Z77-V
G.Skill 16GB 1600MHz CL9
ASUS GTX670 DC Mini
Plextor M5 Pro 128Gb
FSP 850w PSU
The main reason for testing out the performance of the GTX670 Mini is to find out if the changed PCB affects the performance of an actual GTX670. The results speaks for itself as the GTX670 Mini performs identically like any other regular GTX670, and probably even better than reference designs as this card is slightly overclocked.
GTX670 is one of the higher end graphics offering from NVIDIA, and therefore will work well in an gaming environment as well acclaimed by many gamers around the world.
Conclusion
The review was first published by poor_poor for The Tech Revolutionist.
