News Low profile MSI GTX 1050 ti

I apologize if this isn't news worthy. There looked to be a lot of interest in a card like this so it seemed relevant.

A low profile GTX 1050 ti has shown up on MSI's website. It's a dual fan cooler that occupies two slots, slot powered, and has dvi/HDMI/DP outputs. I've not seen any announcements about it and couldn't find it for sale anywhere yet.

https://www.msi.com/Graphics-card/GeForce-GTX-1050-Ti-4GT-LP.html#hero-overview

 

[iFreilicht]

Actually I wouldn't mind if they used super short full DP extension cables and soldered the card end directly to the card without the head...

Well that's a little extreme, isn't it? Would look pretty bad as far as I'm concerned.

I wonder if the cost of bundling adapters is more substantial than the cost of implementing full sized ports (and that annoying doublestack DVI)

I don't think that's even relevant. A miniDP to DP cable costs as much as a DP to DP one, and on laptops miniDP is far more widespread, so it's already a well-established existing standard. I don't think bundling adapters is really required there.

 

[EdZ]

I too would like to see MiniDP become the norm over DP. It still has all the advantages of DP++ (you can turn any DP++ port into a native HDMI port with a passive adapter, so you can eliminate HDMI ports form the rear without losing any functionality), and takes up far less space. The only downside is the latching mechanism is not a required part of the standard.

 

[robbee]

The cooling of the MSI was a bit too noisy to my liking after all. With a couple of milimeters to spare, I could just mount two 80mm fans to the radiator. 5 degrees cooler and inaudible

 

[jeshikat]

Good to know that works well. I plan to do the same but with slim 92mm fans instead.

 

[robbee]

Good to know that works well. I plan to do the same but with slim 92mm fans instead.

Yeah it's a bit wider than two slots now. Slim fans should keep it just within the two slots.

 

[jeshikat]

BTW, is there any interest in a water block for this card?

 

[TheHig]

Nice! Which fans did you choose and how are they mounted to the gpu cooler? Or are they attached to it at all? Details!

 

[confusis]

BTW, is there any interest in a water block for this card?

If it fits the Gigabytye GTX 750TI and GTX 1050Ti too, I'm all for it

 

[robbee]

Nice! Which fans did you choose and how are they mounted to the gpu cooler? Or are they attached to it at all? Details!

They're Be Quiet Pure Wings 2, the only proper 80mm casefans my local pc shop had in stock. I've had good experience with Be Quiet's bigger fans and these ones haven't disappointed me either.

As for attaching, I drilled holes in the outer fins and attached them with cable ties. It's not super clean but they're firmly secured.

 

[aquelito]

Nice work Robbee ! Show some pics of the modding job !

Cheaper alternative : using a modded 4€ Arctic Twin Turbo dual 92mm fan with a 7V adapter, fixed to the case panel

https://www.arctic.ac/eu_en/spare-fan-accelero-twin-turbo-pro.html#?bild0

If it fits the Gigabytye GTX 750TI and GTX 1050Ti too, I'm all for it

Low-profile Nvidia GPUs should have the same rectangular mounting points pattern.

If you talk about the full-height cards, then you can use the EK-VGA Supremacy block with a 6770 mounting plate.

@Aibohphobia Yes I would be interested !
As soon as you have time to confirm the mounting holes spacing of the full-height 1050 Ti.

 

[robbee]

Nice work Robbee ! Show some pics of the modding job !

My desk is still a big mess after the work but I plan to clean up and take pictures this weekend

 

[LocoMoto]

I too would like to see MiniDP become the norm over DP. It still has all the advantages of DP++ (you can turn any DP++ port into a native HDMI port with a passive adapter, so you can eliminate HDMI ports form the rear without losing any functionality), and takes up far less space. The only downside is the latching mechanism is not a required part of the standard.

One thing I love about MiniDP is the 90 degree connectors available for it.

 

[jeshikat]

As soon as you have time to confirm the mounting holes spacing of the full-height 1050 Ti.

Oops, forgot to do that. I'll check tonight.

 

[jeshikat]

It's 42.5mm on the Gigabyte GTX 1050 Ti Mini.

 

[YetiM8]

Hey guys, need a reply ASAP of you can.

Which version shall I buy, the gigabyte or the MSI? Really stuck between them. Which cooler is better/louder?

 

[jeshikat]

The Gigabyte isn't out yet that I've seen.

The MSI has two fans versus one on the Gigabyte, but we'll just have to wait until someone compares them side by side to really say which is quieter.

The Gigabyte has an extra HDMI over the MSI.

Otherwise they're pretty similar.

 

[jeshikat]

Apparently the Gigabyte 1050 Ti LP is out in Europe: https://www.reddit.com/r/sffpc/comments/5q4ezg/gigabyte_gtx_1050_ti_low_profile_is_in/

No sign of it here yet

 

[ImperialAlex]

I have the Gigabyte 750Ti and it looks like the 1050Ti uses the exact same cooling setup. It's a pretty horrible cooling setup. A flimsy aluminium heatsink stuck directly on the die with a teeny tiny craptacular fan on top of it.

Add to this that the card is locked to a 33% fan minimum + the fan tends to make annoying sounds and I'm not going to be buying the Gigabyte 1050 Ti because of those issues. [Tried editing the BIOS to lower the minimum fan speed but it doesn't look like you can set that via BIOS on that card (Update: Never mind, worked fine on the 750 Ti with newest Maxwell Bios Tweaker and NVflash)].

For all I know the msi and GALAX versions might be even worse, though

 

[iFreilicht]

You could always remove those two fans and stick two 80mm ones on there with zip-ties, couldn't you?

 

[ImperialAlex]

You could always remove those two fans and stick two 80mm ones on there with zip-ties, couldn't you?

The gigabyte lp cards only have the single fan but I did try frankstein'd fans. In my case (L2) there's not a lot of space between the chassis and the card so all I could fit where some 80x80x10mm fans (cheap from China). I even re-wired one to attach to the GPU's fan connector so it could be controlled by the card. The stock fan actually had a better temp/noise peformance than the external fan(s) I also noticed that having the shroud on/off seemed to make a significant difference so maybe it was simply the fact that I had to remove the shroud in order to get the fan(s) in there.

I didn't really push this any further so maybe there would have been a configuration where the external fan would have been better. Probably also a different story if you've got room for 25mm 80x80 fans but at that point the case is getting so large you might as well try to fit a full-height ITX-sized card.

EDIT: One final resort might be to custom-mill a proper copper heatsink with a space for a 80x80x15mm fan. But at that point you're throwing an awful lot of money at an entry level GPU.

EDIT2: I only really care about lowest-possible-noise in idle conditions. When I'm gaming I've got audio output happening anyway (often via headphones) so noise isn't as critical. Since the Gigabyte cards are locked to 33% they are annoyingly audible at idle. (Update: I tweaked the BIOS to allow 0rpm during idle!)

I've contacted GALAX to ask whether their 1050 Ti has a lower limit on the fan rpm/percentage and I'll probably do the same for MSI. If anybody here has contacts with either of the companies that could inquire about this and if it'd be possible to BIOS-mod the fan limit if it exists that'd be much appreciated. (Update: Looks like on 10 series GPUs, BIOS modding isn't possible so far because nobody has released a tool to crack the signature scheme used)

EDIT3: Whenever I contact a company through their official support/contact channels I find myself wishing that this were true.