It is possible that the gpu chip and memory can't fit on a pcb that is itx sized, or the heat from all the components being so close causes constant heat issues, there isn't much demand and the companies like gigabyte and zotac have no interest in doing this. But it would be nice to have.
There is also a itx rx 460 from msi, which i own and i am very satisfied with.
There is also a itx rx 460 from msi, which i own and i am very satisfied with.
Likely a combination of high TDP (larger heatsink and more VRMs both desirable, eliminated bus-powered market), low margins, and targeting a small niche of an already small market (AMD do not currently have the volumes Nvidia command).
Short version: OEMs don't think the sales would be worth the effort and money they'd need to invest in making a short variant, and neither do AMD (in not producing the reference version on a short PCB).
AMD still seem to be targeting their next high-end GPUs at using HBM2, which should allow for compact PCBs (if not reducing the TDP) like with the R9 Fuxy/X/Nano. AMD may be more willing to take the effort for these higher margin cards than for their volume cards.
Short version: OEMs don't think the sales would be worth the effort and money they'd need to invest in making a short variant, and neither do AMD (in not producing the reference version on a short PCB).
AMD still seem to be targeting their next high-end GPUs at using HBM2, which should allow for compact PCBs (if not reducing the TDP) like with the R9 Fuxy/X/Nano. AMD may be more willing to take the effort for these higher margin cards than for their volume cards.
Perhaps the market for ITX sized cards is...
too small?
too small?
That's all a bunch of excuses. I called up XFX and they didn't really care much.
There is no reason there isn't an ITX AMD card on a technical basis. It's just the board partners don't care to make one, and I'd hate to say it, but a bit incompetent.
Here is the board size of the "reference" platinum RX 470 by Sapphire:
See something interesting? It fits the ITX size and reference, though I believe it sits at 175mm instead of 170, but still! no longer than 180mm I'm sure.
And instead of slapping a simple cooler like the 1060 SC by EVGA
Both are at the same TDP, 120W, and have pretty much the same board design, the 1060 SC runs fairly cool and quiet.
Of course, XFX makes a long ass single fan version instead of figuring out a decent ITX solution...
There's no excuse for sapphire who has already created an ITX cooling solution, mind you 4 heat pipes! The 285/380 consumes way more power than the 470, and they couldn't have taken a similar cooler design, cut down the heatpipes to 2 or 3, and slap it on their Platinum 470 board... Heck, it can surely handle the 480 when it already handles the 285? Sheesh...
Alas, none of these companies have figured out that there's a decent market for prebuilt, hence why the 1050ti sells solidly, the 1060/SC sells pretty solidly just because they can fit in prebuilts, who often are short on length.
TLDR; AMD/XFX/Sapphire are incompetent.
signed, a ultrawide Freesync monitor user... who had to get a 1060...
There is no reason there isn't an ITX AMD card on a technical basis. It's just the board partners don't care to make one, and I'd hate to say it, but a bit incompetent.
Here is the board size of the "reference" platinum RX 470 by Sapphire:
See something interesting? It fits the ITX size and reference, though I believe it sits at 175mm instead of 170, but still! no longer than 180mm I'm sure.
And instead of slapping a simple cooler like the 1060 SC by EVGA
Both are at the same TDP, 120W, and have pretty much the same board design, the 1060 SC runs fairly cool and quiet.
Of course, XFX makes a long ass single fan version instead of figuring out a decent ITX solution...
There's no excuse for sapphire who has already created an ITX cooling solution, mind you 4 heat pipes! The 285/380 consumes way more power than the 470, and they couldn't have taken a similar cooler design, cut down the heatpipes to 2 or 3, and slap it on their Platinum 470 board... Heck, it can surely handle the 480 when it already handles the 285? Sheesh...
Alas, none of these companies have figured out that there's a decent market for prebuilt, hence why the 1050ti sells solidly, the 1060/SC sells pretty solidly just because they can fit in prebuilts, who often are short on length.
TLDR; AMD/XFX/Sapphire are incompetent.
signed, a ultrawide Freesync monitor user... who had to get a 1060...
While I do agree that AMD, Sapphire, and XFX should bring small cards to the market, I think the main issue is that Sapphire and XFX did not see the kind of ROI that they would have liked with their small cards. The small cards ended up being more expensive than their full length equivalents much of the time (similar to the R9 Nano vs. R9 Fury pricing). EVGA, however, have been turning out small cards for a while now and can just continue to iterate on the their existing tooling, again.
Both of those statements are not true.
1) The R9 Nano was more expensive because it was binned because in order to fit into that form factor and TDP.
2) The R9 Nano also had a pretty sophisticated cooler. It had a vapor chamber + heatpipe design. It had to dissipate twice the amount of heat as the 470.
It is merely a matter of shortsightedness.
1) XFX spent the time to develop a single fan model, so they have one extra SKU, and a line assembly devoted to another product. Their previous cards have not had a single fan version, so this is a new design.
2) The ITX version should theoretically cost just slightly above a reference blower version. We're talking about a single fan, 175mm, two heatpipe design, just like the XFX single fan,... however since it is smaller it should be a bit cheaper as you require less material.
3) They can use the reference board design, saving money on developing their own board.
4) Now they actually have a card to battle NVidia's sub 180mm cards, while spending no more development or pricing vs their single fan version.
For sapphire, sapphire already got a cooler designed for it. Cut out a couple heatpipes. There's not a huge difference between boards... they're pretty much the same. You got a chip, and some VRMs to cool.
The below 180mm market is left for NVidia to dominate freely. No one seems to respect how much sales the 1060 SC gets compared to its longer version. The XFX Single fan is barely cheaper, yet fails to be in a small form factor required for prebuilts.
The 1060 SC is clearly the favorite among EVGA's 1060 offering if you check newegg.
And then you got zotac, with their shitty 1060 mini cooler..
Within companies that offer a mini version, the mini version sells better than the dual fan version. If anything, their ROI analysis is backwards. The smaller 1060 is the best selling one.
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HEH i have an ITX RX480....altough I traded my XFX GTR for a reference one with a waterblock. I really don't think heat would be a problem like alot of you. In theory you'd just have to slap a decent open-air cooler onto the reference model, but i feel like AIB's have a problem with using the amd pcb because of that pcie "scandal".
They're selling the reference PCB just fine despite all of that. Contrary to what most people think, not everyone reads technical stuff like we do. They could've slapped a 3 heat pipe single fan cooler on the reference PCB, and because it looks different, people would be none the wiser. That's all an EVGA 1060 SC is, their cooler slapped on the reference board.
A lot of good points here but lets not forget that the short single fan 1060s are also the least expensive. Finally we are seeing the aib Rx 480 8gb cards for that and even less on sale. Newegg had the MSI armor 8gb 480 for just over 200 recently. For even money vs 1060 I choose the 480 if you have the space. For less money?... No brainer.
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This might be a dense question, sorry for that!
If the PCB of the 470 is ~175mm, are there "aftermarket" air coolers that can be used in conjunction with it? I understand you can normally remove the 'stock' cooler from most GPUs whether it's to reapply thermal paste or mount an water cooling block, but I've never heard of mounting a different air cooler.
If the PCB of the 470 is ~175mm, are there "aftermarket" air coolers that can be used in conjunction with it? I understand you can normally remove the 'stock' cooler from most GPUs whether it's to reapply thermal paste or mount an water cooling block, but I've never heard of mounting a different air cooler.
I agree with what you are saying, however the EVGA 1060 is actually 183mm in length and not the 173mm they are claiming. The Shroud extends 10mm beyond the PCB
There are a few after market options but none are integrated to cool both the vrm and the chip properly in the small form factor we want. It needs to be compact and have dense fins within the PCB area.
Dear AMD,
Fury Nano cooling setup on an rx 480. Then on a short Vega gpu when they arrive.
Regards,
SFF Community.
Fury Nano cooling setup on an rx 480. Then on a short Vega gpu when they arrive.
Regards,
SFF Community.
Actually, an aftermarket ITX sized cooler for the reference RX480 would be ideal. Like you say though - probably not the market for them.
Again. It is not a matter of market. They can have a small cooler and have those be the entry 480/470 but they didn't care to. Instead we got overpriced 480 with LED and swappable fans and oversized shroud. Small cards sell very well as demonstrated by my research.
I would say the price is the determining factor in the example of the GTX 1060:
(sorted by price, GTX 1060 6GB, sold as new by Newegg)
I can hardly believe the GTX 1060 is responsible for everyone suddenly wanting smaller cards when all the manufacturers have been doing is selling increasingly larger cards. But in the end, this is not a bad thing: more people using smaller cards means manufacturers will focus on smaller cards meaning more SFF GPUs for us !
Maybe Newegg had a good deal, maybe they've bundled it, many factors can skew that view with the amount of reviews being the main factor.
