Gigabyte recently released a mini version of the GeForce GTX 1080 – the Gigabyte GTX 1080 Mini ITX 8G (GV-N1080IX-8GD). We rarely see high performance graphics cards on a mini or compact form factor. The Gigabyte GTX 1080 Mini ITX isn’t the first small form factor GTX 1080 in the market. The first was the Zotac GTX 1080 Mini (review here). However Zotac’s 1080 Mini is not as small as Gigabyte’s GTX 1080 Mini; Zotac was more of a “compact” 1080 rather than “mini”. But Zotac’s GTX 1080 Mini features a beefier cooling solution with its dual fan design and most probably a larger heatsink. I’m not sure if the single-fan design on the Gigabyte GTX 1080 Mini ITX is up for the job. Anyway, more of its features and specifications can be read below.
Gigabyte GeForce GTX 1080 Mini ITX 8G Features
The Gigabyte GeForce GTX 1080 Mini ITX 8G looks very familiar in terms of design. That’s because Gigabyte’s GTX 1070 and 1060 Mini ITX graphics cards look exactly the same; featuring the same cooler design and shroud. The new Gigabyte GTX 1080 Mini ITX measures only 169mm in length; while Zotac’s GTX 1080 Mini measures 211mm and the 1080 FE measures 267mm. So it’s definitely shorter than Zotac’s GTX 1080 Mini and definitely the shortest or smallest GTX 1080 on the market.
We don’t have any photos of the PCB (yet), so I am not sure how Gigabyte was able to cram all the components on a small PCB. But it would be very interesting to see how the insides would look like. Performance wise, the Gigabyte GTX 1080 Mini ITX has a base clock speed of 1607MHz (Gaming Mode) / 1733MHz (OC Mode) and a boost clock speed of 1632MHz (Gaming Mode) / 1771MHz (OC Mode).
The GPU of the Gigabyte GTX 1080 Mini ITX is being cooled by a small aluminum fin stack with 3 pure copper heatpipes, which is then cooled by a single 90mm fan. I don’t doubt that it will perform no less of a GTX 1080, but I am more curious as to its thermal performance. The Zotac GTX 1080 Mini obviously has a beefier cooler but temperature could get as high as 77 deg to 80 deg, more often higher if overclocked further. Thermal throttling could be a possible issue on Gigabyte’s GTX 1080 Mini ITX if heat is not dissipated properly.
Then again, let’s just wait and see, hope we can test the graphics card; and let’s see how it performs.
Gigabyte GTX 1080 Mini ITX 8G Specifications
| Specifications | Gigabyte GTX 1080 Mini ITX | Zotac GTX 1080 Mini | GeForce GTX 1080 FE |
|---|---|---|---|
| Graphics Processing | GeForce® GTX 1080 | GeForce® GTX 1080 | GeForce® GTX 1080 |
| Core Clock | Boost: 1771 MHz/ Base: 1632 MHz in OC Mode Boost: 1733 MHz/ Base: 1607 MHz in Gaming Mode | Base: 1620 MHz Boost: 1759 MHz | Base: 1607 MHz Boost: 1733 MHz |
| Memory Clock | 10010 MHz | 10 Gbps | 10 Gbps |
| Memory Size | 8 GB | 8 GB | 8 GB |
| Memory Type | GDDR5X | GDDR5X | GDDR5X |
| Memory Bus | 256 bit | 256 bit | 256 bit |
| Card Bus | PCI-E 3.0 x 16 | PCI-E 3.0 x 16 | PCI-E 3.0 x 16 |
| Output | 3 x DisplayPort 1.4, HDMI 2.0b, DL-DVI | 3 x DisplayPort 1.4, HDMI 2.0b, DL-DVI | 3 x DisplayPort 1.4, HDMI 2.0b, DL-DVI |
| Multi-view | 4 | 4 | Yes |
| Card size | 169mm x 131mm x 37mm | 211mm x 125mm x dual slot | 267mm x 111mm x dual slot |
| DirectX | 12 | 12 | 12 |
| OpenGL | 4.5 | 4.5 | 4.5 |
| TDP | ??? | 180W | 175W |
| Recommended PSU | 500W | 500W | 500W |
| Power Connectors | Single 8-pin | Single 8-pin | Single 8-pin |
Price and Availability
Unfortunately, details regarding its price and availability are not yet available as of this time. However, I would expect that the Gigabyte GTX 1080 Mini would be priced similarly with other GTX 1080 in the market. I don’t think that Gigabyte will place a premium price on this graphics card as well.
