News Gigabyte 1070 Mini ITX OC

Perfect timing for all these SFF builds!

http://www.gigabyte.us/products/product-page.aspx?pid=5923#kf

Gonna drop one in my NFC S3 as soon as I can

 

[EdZ]

Is there anything technical reason why DVI works better than DP in that case?

Probably because the panel controllers can be 'dumber' to allow for overclocking in the first place. A basic DVI to LVDS panel controller is taking one pixel-clocked signal and translating it to another pixel-clock signal, with a little globally-applied correction (e,g.fixed offset for brightness, and if your lucky fixed per-channel offesets for colour). Because all this happens pixel-by-pixel, if you feed more pixels in, you get more pixels out, because the cheap panel controller is basing its pixel output clock on the input clock.
DisplayPort is packet based rather than just a stream of pixels. The controller needs to read in the packets, perform any processing, then output them to the panel itself. Because you are no logner performing operation i lockstep with the input and output, overclocking becomes something the panel controller needs to explicitly support it, because it is generating its own pixel output clock internally.

 

[BirdofPrey]

Not to mention these cheap Korean monitors everyone has been getting seem to be designed with as little of everything as possible. A single input port and the most basic of enclosures (not that that's a bad thing, mind you); the only thing they really spent any money on was the actual display panel.

Still, it doesn't cost any more to include an HDMI to DVI adapter that it does to include the DVI to VGA adapter I still occasionally find in boxes, and you can fit two HDMI ports in the same space as one DVI port.

 

[iFreilicht]

Thanks for the explanation!

Probably because the panel controllers can be 'dumber' to allow for overclocking in the first place.

Wait, what kind of refresh rate are we talking about? 240Hz monitors are readily available, at least 144Hz are easy to get, and they aren't even terribly expensive. Are those Korean monitors super-fast (like 300Hz) or just super-cheap?

 

[BirdofPrey]

Mainly cheap.
Most of them are the same panels in the high end LGs, Samsungs and Dells, but the monitor as a whole is extremely basic.

It should also be mentioned that DVI is pretty much tapped out, it can't do both high resolution and high refresh rates at the same time. For that HDMI is adequate and DP is good.

 

[EdZ]

Wait, what kind of refresh rate are we talking about? 240Hz monitors are readily available, at least 144Hz are easy to get, and they aren't even terribly expensive. Are those Korean monitors super-fast (like 300Hz) or just super-cheap?

Just super-cheap. One DVI input, minimal (if any) controls over contrast/brightness/colour (some are missing backlight controls), and the actual overclock you can achieve is wildly variable, and generally top out at around 85Hz.

 

[iFreilicht]

I see, thanks both of you! In that case, I don't see any reason why DVI should be supported if those monitors are the only reason to keep it. Getting an adapter will absolutely suffice and they cost about 10 bucks.

 

[Phuncz]

They require Dual-Link DVI though, which requires an expensive active adapter if I'm correct. But it's just fringe cases anyways.

 

[Josh | NFC]

DVI indeed needs to die, but more than a few people have invested in Korean high refresh rate monitors in the last few years (DL-DVI only), so that would also get some resistance. AMD already has omitted DVI in its reference designs for a while now.

but...but...I like DVI

It always works, and the cables don't die, and I can run them through client studios and not worry about the cable dying in 3 months and me making a jet trip back.

 

[Phuncz]

I liked DVI too, but what do you do with stuff that served it's purpose with dignity but now has been replaced by something more efficient in any way ? Take it out back and shoot it with a shotgun. Just look at DisplayPort as DVI Next Gen, you'll grown to love it.

What's going wrong with your clients destroying cables ? Because people generally tend to not appreciate cables. The amount of defective notebook power supplies with curly cables and taped ends I've been into contact with, have proven people think cables are like chewing gum stuck to your shoe.

 

[iFreilicht]

It always works, and the cables don't die, and I can run them through client studios and not worry about the cable dying in 3 months and me making a jet trip back.

You can do that with an adapter as well. Have you had stability issues with HDMI or DP?

 

[BirdofPrey]

You don't even need adapters anymore really.

I have a setup of 3 somewhat old monitors. Until I can get them replaced, I have them connected with 6 foot DP to HDMI cables
The active cable on the third monitor was a tad pricey, but the passive cables weren't more than a dollar or two more than regular DVI cables.

I just mention shipping adapters with video cards because they are cheap, and small, and work with existing cables. (had to buy new stuff because the new card had regular DP ports, and all my adapters were mini-DP, so I might as well save myself the trouble)

 

[firewolfy]

Going back to the overheight Gigabyte GPU, I haven't owned a Gigabyte GPU before. I assumed they were kind of a second tier. anyone have experience with them?

 

[confusis]

most of my gpus have been gigabyte or sapphire products. Never had an issue with them except louder than expected coolers

 

[BirdofPrey]

I've never had problems with Gigabyte products. The only Sapphire stuff I have owned though have been ATi/AMD cards, and a couple of those seemed dodgy.

 

[Josh | NFC]

Going back to the overheight Gigabyte GPU, I haven't owned a Gigabyte GPU before. I assumed they were kind of a second tier. anyone have experience with them?

I've never had problems with Gigabyte products. The only Sapphire stuff I have owned though have been ATi/AMD cards, and a couple of those seemed dodgy.

Many of the big GPU manufacturers have premium lines along side their "dodgier" stuff. This is true of Gigabyte and Sapphire. Generally I would rank Gigabyte overall pretty high. Sapphire as of late is working on their premium image with Nitro, and their high end cards are built very well.

I also dig the look, though I might be biased:

 

[BirdofPrey]

Well at least, the 7950 I got from them that came factory overclocked actually lasted till the fan bearings gave out.

 

[Zeroth Alpha]

http://www.shopblt.com/item/gigabyt...e-gtx-1070-pciex16/gigmbd_gvn1070ixoc8gd.html
Apparently some retailers already have the card in stock. The expected sale date in North America is August 3rd. The images are from the Chinese site Taobao.

 

[K888D]

Awesome, it looks like the PEG connector is quite recessed from the second picture which is good news.

Is there any way to get one measured for its height?

 

[iFreilicht]

Now I hate the height of the card even more, it's beyond unnecessary. That is also the weirdest backplate I've ever seen.

 

[jeshikat]

That is also the weirdest backplate I've ever seen.

Gigabyte marketing team: "...and that concludes our product spec list for the new ITX GTX 1070, any questions?"

Gigabyte engineering team: "No, everything looks doable. We'll be cutting it close to keep it on budget and get all those features in but we think we can manage."

Marketing: "Great!"

Engineering: "Ok, we'll go get started on this."

*three weeks before ship date*

Marketing: "We've received those pre-production samples and they look good. Except there's no backplate, where's the backplate?!?"

Engineering: "What backplate? There was no mention of a backplate in the product spec document."

Marketing: "Well, we've already printed the boxes and wrote the press releases that the card will have a backplate!"

Engineering: "Uh, well we could include a nice backplate but it'll increase the BOM a bit over the original budget."

Marketing: "No can do! The card has to have a backplate and it has to stay under budget and it needs to be done yesterday. Hop to it."

Engineering: "..."