ZOTAC Quietly Releases GeForce GT 710 Graphics Card with PCIe x1 Interface

ZOTAC has quietly introduced a new video card which is compatible with virtually every desktop PC released in the recent years. The new GeForce GT 710 graphics card with PCIe 3.0 x1 interface is not going to outperform modern higher-end iGPUs in games, but it will help owners of very low-cost systems, particularly those which may not even have a PCIe x16 slot, to add support for another display, or improve over the performance of completely outdated iGPUs.

The ZOTAC GeForce GT 710 1 GB (ZT-71304-20L) video card is powered by a cut-down version of NVIDIA’s GK208 GPU with 192 CUDA cores, 16 texture units and 8 ROPs. The GPU is based on the Kepler architecture, which supports Direct3D feature level 11_0, OpenGL 4.5 as well as OpenCL 1.2 APIs. The chip is clocked at 954 MHz and has compute performance of around 366 GFLOPS (well below that of modern iGPUs). The card is equipped with 1 GB of DDR3-1600 memory featuring 12.8 GB/s bandwidth.

The card comes in half height half length (HHHL) form-factor and is shipped with two brackets (for low-profile and standard PCs) to maximize compatibility with various computers. The graphics board has minimal (19W) power consumption and does not require active cooling (which means, it is also whisper quiet).

The main selling points of the ZOTAC GT 710 are its PCIe 3.0 x1 interface as well as three display outputs — DVI, HDMI 1.4 and D-Sub. Some entry-level PCs simply do not have PCIe x16 or x8 slots to install a graphics card, but virtually all desktops released in the last ten years have at least one PCIe x1 slot. ZOTAC’s new graphics card promises to be compatible with such systems. If owners of such PCs need to add one or two more display outputs, or just find their iGPUs too slow in Windows 10, they can buy the GeForce GT 710 1 GB PCIe 3.0 x1 graphics adapter. The board supports up to three displays, which should be enough for many workloads.

When it comes to performance in games, it is unlikely that the GeForce GT 710 is fast enough for more or less demanding titles. The product may be faster than iGPUs integrated into entry-level Celeron or Pentium processors, but only in various online games that do not require a lot of GPU horsepower anyway.

As for market perspectives of ZOTAC’s GeForce GT 710 1 GB PCIe 3.0 x1, it should be noted that this is a niche product designed for owners of low-end systems, who need a better GPU or additional display outputs. Typically, people, who use such systems do not upgrade often, hence, ZOTAC’s new video card will hardly become a bestseller. Nonetheless, it will be a unique device for those who really need it.

ZOTAC does not list recommended prices on its web-site. However two stores which sell the device in Europe have it listed €58.30 ($65.8) and €84.7 ($95). This is definitely higher than you’d otherwise expect for a bottom-tier NVIDIA card, though it may very well be that retailers are counting on its unique nature.

Gallery: ZOTAC Quietly Releases GeForce GT 710 Graphics Card with PCIe x1 Interface

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GIGABYTE Adds 75W GeForce GTX 950 to Lineup

GIGABYTE has quietly added a low-power GeForce GTX 950 video card to its lineup. The product does not require auxiliary PCIe power connector and can be powered entirely by a PCIe x16 slot. Low-power graphics cards featuring the GM206 graphics chip were released by multiple manufacturers recently, GIGABYTE’s board will compete against similar products by three other makers.

The GIGABYTE GV-N950D5-2GD graphics card is based on the GeForce GTX 950 GPU in default configuration (768 stream processors, 48 texture units, 32 ROPs, 128-bit GDDR5 memory interface), but does not require external power, unlike Nvidia’s reference design of the product. Power consumption of the GV-N950D5-2GD does not exceed 75 W, which is why it can be powered by the PCIe x16 slot. Due to reduced power consumption, the new graphics card from GIGABYTE does not feature significant factory-overclocking, it comes with GPU frequencies of 1051/1228 MHz (base/boost) and thus offers performance close to that of Nvidia’s reference card.

The board is equipped with 2 GB of GDDR5 memory, two DVI connectors, one HDMI 2.0 port and one DisplayPort output. The product uses a rather simplistic dual-slot cooling system with one fan, which should be sufficient given low-power nature of the device. In a bid to ensure long lifespan of the product, GIGABYTE uses high-quality components, such as solid-state inductors and capacitors, to build the GV-N950D5-2GD.

GIGABYTE added its low-power GV-N950D5-2GD graphics card to its lineup after ASUS, EVGA and MSI quietly introduced their GeForce GTX 950-based products with 75 W power consumption that do not require auxiliary six-pin PCIe power connectors. Such adapters can be used to upgrade inexpensive PCs that do not have an extra power connector inside, or to build low-power gaming or HTPC systems. Since the GM206 GPU is still the only GPU on the market that supports hardware-accelerated decoding and encoding of H.265 (HEVC) video, as well as HDCP 2.2 content protection over HDMI 2.0 (which is required for Ultra HD Blu-ray playback), those who build modern HTPCs, do not have a lot of choice.

With GIGABYTE’s addition of a GM206-251-based graphics board to its product family, low-power GeForce GTX 950 is now available from virtually all well-known suppliers of video cards. Pricing of GIGABYTE’s GV-N950D5-2GD video card is unknown, but GeForce GTX 950-based adapters are generally inexpensive.

Gallery: GIGABYTE Adds GeForce GTX 950 with 75W Power Consumption to Lineup