Nvidia finally agrees graphics cards are getting too big by announcing a new small GPU initiative

Modified Jun 02, 2024 13:40 GMT

We might finally be getting smaller sized enthusiast PCs with Nvidia's new SFF initiative (Image via Nvidia)

Nvidia has unveiled new guidelines for smaller graphics cards under the SFF-Ready Enthusiast GeForce Card initiative. The company has been working on its GPUs to cater to the Small Form Factor (SFF) builds and PCs. These new card guidelines released today (June 2, 2024) will help gamers, AIB partners, and component manufacturers who are looking for a compact yet capable PC.

Nvidia releases SFF-Ready GeForce Card Guidelines to help with compact PC builds

Nvidia is working with graphic card makers, PSU, chassis manufacturers, etc, to design components that are perfect to cater to SFF builds. This collaboration is important because the small form factor creates complexities in thermal management compared to the traditional builds.

Hence, as a part of this SFF-Ready GeForce Card guidelines, Nvidia has specified dimensions of 304x151x50mm for a graphic card. These cards should also not exceed 2.5 slots which is currently the sweet spot for smaller PC builds.

Partners and cards in the SFF GeForce Card initiative

Nvidia's new GPU dimension guidelines (Image via Nvidia)

The partners offering these newer designs include Asus, Gigabyte, Galax, Inno3D, MSI, Palit, PNY, and Zotac. Cards such as Nvidia GeForce RTX 4070, 4070 Super, and 4070 Ti Founders Edition will comply with this guideline.

PC case guidelines

Nvidia is partnering with case manufacturers to build compact cases (Image via NZXT)

Graphic cards are just one side of the problem when it comes to SFF PCs. The second major issue is to build PC cases that feature the required airflow for these PCs.

Nvidia is working with several top PC case manufacturers like Cooler Master, Asus, Corsair, InWin, MSI, and NZXT to make sure their cases meet the minimum requirements for SFF-Ready Enthusiast GeForce Cards.

The guideline parameter set for PC cases is 312x154.5x50mm (2.5-slot) clearance.

That said, you may be wondering if this allows for more Mini-ITX and compact GeForce RTX GPUs. Well, maybe.

Nvidia itself won’t be offering any compact variant of its own since the SFF initiative is mostly a partner-driven program. However, partners like Asus, Gigabyte, Galax, Inno3D, MSI, Palit, PNY, and Zotac are free to experiment with their offerings to comply with the new SFF-Ready Enthusiast GeForce guidelines.

In conclusion, this new initiative encourages manufacturers to innovate around the complexities of SFF PCs to bring the same high performance on a smaller form factor.

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Edited by Adarsh J Kumar