GPU MSI introduces two slot-powered GTX 950s

[CC Ricers]

http://www.anandtech.com/show/10150/msi-geforce-gtx-950-gpu-75w-tdp-2gd5-ocv2-2gd5t-ocv3

These cards operate at 75w compared to the 90w of typical 950's which removes the need for a PCIe connector. You can now run a computer with a GTX 950 without needing extra power supply cables, powered just by slot. This would be pretty great for very small systems using limited power output. Maybe I'd just trade in my ASUS 950 mini for one of these.

 

[confusis]

I'd be concerned at these 75w (on the dot) cards overloading the PCIe power bus - iirc the Bitcoiners had issues with slots burning out when cards pulled too much from the slot?

Also, it seems white+black seems to be the trend for the GTX750-75w products. The asus card has the same theme

 

[michaelmitchell]

I'd be concerned at these 75w (on the dot) cards overloading the PCIe power bus - iirc the Bitcoiners had issues with slots burning out when cards pulled too much from the slot?

Also, it seems white+black seems to be the trend for the GTX750-75w products. The asus card has the same theme

One would assume that if they have released these cards without PCI-E power connectors they are tested and are intended for use with the slot power draw and should be absolutely fine.

The bitcoiners have problems because they are typically running multiple GPU's on the same board, I don't believe this would be a problem with a single card?

 

[confusis]

Tell that to the maker of my last motherboard... rated for 125w CPU, listed my FX-8350 as supported, yet the VRMs popped under full load (and killed the cpu too -_-)

 

[IntoxicatedPuma]

Colorful released a single slot GTX 750 (and a single slot low profile) card awhile ago. I wonder when they will release a version for GTX 950? They used a single slot cooler on the GTS 450 as well and that had a higher TDP than the 950. It'd be cool to have a pair of those in SLI on a mATX board and still have room leftover for other expansion cards.

 

[BirdofPrey]

That would seem to be an oversight on the motherboard manufacturer's part to not be able to actually power all of the slots

 

[iFreilicht]

Colorful released a single slot GTX 750 (and a single slot low profile) card awhile ago. I wonder when they will release a version for GTX 950? They used a single slot cooler on the GTS 450 as well and that had a higher TDP than the 950. It'd be cool to have a pair of those in SLI on a mATX board and still have room leftover for other expansion cards.

I don't really see the use of SLI with such low-power cards. SLI isn't supported by all games, and two single-slot coolers are going to be quite noisy, so you'd end up with a louder, lesser performing package than if you were going with a single double-slot GPU.

 

[BirdofPrey]

I can;t think of many situations where a a dual GPU solution is better than a single, more powerful card aside from when you already have the most powerful card in your system, especially when you consider how badly many recent games do with multiple GPUs

 

[IntoxicatedPuma]

The price of 2x 950s is less than a single 970 here, so I would have some interest in this configuration. A single slot 950 would still be useful as a physx card or for MicroATX users who don't want to block any PCI slots. But I think you are right, the uses and gains are very small and limited cases.

 

[jtd871]

I don't think the x50 series boards are SLI-able - i.e., no SLI connector. Now aggregating them under DX12 without SLI may be another thing entirely...

 

[Phuncz]

The low and mid-range cards without SLI connectors can often have SLI enabled over PCIe, as AMD has done since the R9 290X. But in contrast to AMD's Crossfire, PCIe SLI is not worth the trouble as it has terrible scaling.

 

[CC Ricers]

IIRC, even two 960s would provide less performance than a single GTX 970. And far less performance combined per watt. Maybe if they are 4gb versions they would be decent but in most cases you'd be better off with a 970 if you are going for that kind of performance.