By For those who enjoy PC gaming, the past several years have been perplexing. With power and performance surging, graphics cards have gotten bigger and bigger, with triple-slot-plus monsters almost becoming standard in the mid-range and higher. Though they have been seeing a comeback of their own, tiny form factor PCs can not always accommodate the massive GPUs of today.
During Nvidia’s Computex livestream, the company unveiled its new “SFF-Ready Enthusiast GeForce Card” guideline, which aims to clear up any confusion among consumers when the two trends intersect.
It is an extremely simple certification program. Nvidia’s guidelines specify the maximum size of the GPU that can be installed (along with a small buffer for power connectors) and the amount of free space that must surround the GPU within the case to accommodate and cool the card.
Upon fulfilling these prerequisites, graphics cards and cases can display the new “Nvidia SFF-Ready” label on their products and promotional materials. That ensures casual players that they will work flawlessly together.
However, these graphics cards will not be as little as those from the past. The SFF-Ready Enthusiast GeForce Card guideline maxes out at 50mm (or 2.5 slots) in height, with 151mm width and 304mm length restrictions. While two-slot GPUs used to be the new, full stop.
The PC cases must have a slightly larger housing area of 154.5 x 312 mm, although they must still have the same 2.5-slot height. The minimum is the case housing size; the maximum is the graphics card size.
Nvidia has produced a list of currently available GPUs and cases that are initially compatible. Along with the majority of GeForce RTX 4070 and 4070 Ti graphics cards, you will find some of the most well-known brands of SFF cases on the list.
This recommendation seems to be centered on the RTX 4070 and upwards since enthusiast graphics cards are the intended audience, while mainstream GPUs are typically smaller (and therefore less expensive). Right now, though, just one better graphics card—Asus’ remarkably thin ProArt RTX 4080 Super—makes the criteria.
