Gigabyte is on a mission to miniaturize desktop graphics cards. After shrinking last year’s GeForce GTX 1070 into a mini-ITX version, Engadget has spotted that Gigabyte is announcing an equally small GTX 1080. Gigabyte’s GeForce GTX 1080 Mini ITX 8G is just 6.7 inches long, which is nearly 5 inches shorter than a regular GTX 1080. It’s designed to fit inside a mini-ITX case, for a more portable desktop gaming rig.
Gigabyte is using a single 90mm fan for cooling, paired with three copper composite heat-pipes. The fan is semi-passive, meaning it will turn off when the GTX 1080 isn’t under a big load. You’ll even be able to overclock this GTX 1080, thanks to Gigabyte’s own software.
Nvidia has been reducing the size of gaming laptops thanks to its Max-Q technology, but gamers still want to build smaller desktop systems. This isn’t the first powerful GPU we’ve seen in a mini-ITX form, but it’s certainly the smallest. Zotac unveiled a 8.3-inch GTX 1080 Ti earlier this year, but it’s more than an inch bigger than Gigabyte’s miniature GTX 1080. Now we’re just waiting on Gigabyte to produce a similarly small GTX 1080 Ti, which would be perfect for a portable VR gaming machine.