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There are benefits to having a low-profile graphics card that people with a smaller cabinet can take advantage of. Although these types of GPUs may not be the most premium devices on the market, they can run modern games without problems, just not in the highest settings.
Today's top-tier GPUs take up a vast amount of space inside the case, require a lot of power, and run quite loud. For example, the latest Nvidia RTX 3090 Ti is 12.3 inches in length and 5.4 inches in width, which will not fit in several cases while having enough clearance for the RAM and CPU cooler.
A low-profile GPU will run almost completely silent, draw minimum power, and can fit in almost any case and is an excellent option for gamers who do not want to spend a fortune on just one component.
1) MSI GeForce GTX 1650 Low-Profile
A card that can fit perfectly into compact spaces without interfering with other components is a popular choice for budget builds. Even though it does not have the best specifications, it can run all AAA games in low to mid graphic settings.
The card is designed with dual fans to cover more area of the heatsink and help dissipate heat more efficiently. Through Nvidia software, memory and GPU clocks can also be overclocked to further improve performance to run games smoothly.
2) Gigabyte GeForce GTX 1080 Mini
Gigabyte managed to pack a lot of power in this small form factor that is 16.9 cm in length compared to 26.7 cm of the original GTX 1080. It has a 90mm fan that has a unique blade design with three pure copper heat pipes, helping the card to deliver high performance at low temperatures.
The card can run the latest games in low to medium settings at 1080p resolution at playable frame rates. However, if you want more power, the GPU clock and memory clock can be overclocked using the Gigabyte software to meet gaming requirements.
3) PowerColor Radeon RX 5600 XT ITX
The RX 5600 XT ITX was released in 2020 and is still a great choice for compact builds as it packs a lot of power, sufficient for running the most graphic-intensive games in low to medium settings at playable FPS. The card is 17.5 cm in length, making it compact enough to fit in ITX cases.
The AMD card supports the latest technology, including PCIe 4.0, FreeSync 2.0, and Radeon Anti-Lag, which helps improve performance in various areas.
4) EVGA GeForce RTX 2060 XC Black Edition
A low-profile RTX-20 series card that has incredible performance. The card has a low TDP of 160W that requires users to use a minimum of 500W PSU, which is efficient when compared to other RTX cards.
The card is 19 cm in length and is cooled by one fan, which does not let it run hot under heavy load due to its low power intake. The card also supports DLSS, an upscaling technology powered by AI that renders games at low resolution and upscales them to a higher one to help improve FPS.
5) Gigabyte GeForce RTX 3060 Eagle OC
The best low-profile graphics card on the market is currently which is 24.2 cm in length and 12.4 cm in width. The card has plenty of memory and incredible specifications that offer future-proofing, so you can use this card for many years to come without worrying about performance.
All the latest games can run on high to ultra settings without dropping the frame rate. This card can also run games at a higher resolution, such as 1440p, without running into stutter and lag. The only downside of this card is that it runs quite loud even though the temperatures remain average under load.
Note: This article is subjective and solely reflects the writer's opinions.
