Wrap-Up: Single-Slot GeForce GTX 750 Ti
Yes, this was only an experiment. But we couldn't resist the urge to try something that Nvidia's board partners should have tried right out of the gate. It proves that you can use the heat sink from a 50 W card (source by AMD, no less) to cool Nvidia's GM107 GPU in a single-slot form factor. Now think about a solution designed for GeForce GTX 750 Ti, rather than tacked on crudely. A better-fitting implementation designed to fill the PCB space would almost certainly facilitate better thermal performance, likely eliminating the delta between our reference and single-slot GeForce GTX 750 Ti cards, which was a result of lower GPU Boost clock rates.
Truly, our solution isn't optimized. It was another proof-of-concept that involved some craftiness. But it works, despite the minor performance hit and the...shall we say mis-matched brand colors?
At this point, it's up to the board partners as to when we might see a single-slot, low-profile, or passively-cooled GeForce GTX 750 Ti. The HTPC community would undoubtedly cheer, though we're not sure the segment is large enough to compel fast action.
But there is a lot of interest coming from the small form factor space. Right now, we see most vendors tucking dual-slot cards into cases built to accommodate them, if only barely. A single-slot version is even more flexible. We've shown that passive and low-profile cooling are both possible with the 60 W GM107 processor. The GPU is capable of a solid experience at 1920x1080. Hopefully, it's only a matter of time before both derivatives emerge, empowering PC enthusiasts with new ways to build attractive console alternatives.
