One of the great trends over the past couple of years is the increasing performance of single slot graphics cards. Along with mITX and low profile cards, there are some great options for small form factor builders these days. Late last year, GALAX revealed their prototype single slot GeForce GTX 1070, the first of it’s kind. A few months later it looks like the card is on its way to a full release, with a review popping up today.
Compared to the prototype, GALAX has made a number of nice aesthetic changes. For the fan shroud, the fan vent is no longer just exposed and has a nice cover to help divert air out after it has passed the copper heatsink. Due to the single slot, having the usual I/O slot vent is not an option as that space is entirely taken up by the DVI, HMDI, and DP ports. The exposed fan cable for the blower fan has also been hidden behind the 8pin PCIe power connector.
In terms of performance, GALAX has not given up an inch. With the same GP104 die as usual, we still have a factory overclock at 1519 MHz base and 1709 MHz boost. Despite the single slot design, performance manages to exceed the Founders Edition and the card is able to maintain its clocks. In fact, the thermal profile is about the same as the reference solution despite being half the thickness. Hopefully, the card will see a wide release and spur the development of more small form factor and single slot designs. After all, it seems that we can now have a tiny card without compromising performance.
