ASUS today announced the GeForce GTX 670 DirectCU Mini, a compact high-performance graphics card designed primarily for small form factor PCs with mini ITX motherboards. The dual-slot card measures just 17cm and features the NVIDIA GTX 670 GPU for DirectX 11.1-compatible gaming. The reference GTX 670 measures 24.13cm, for comparison.
Small form factor PCs based on mini ITX motherboards are a popular choice for gamers and home users. Their compact cases are much easier to transport to LAN parties than a standard desktop PC, and stylish designs with comparatively low power requirements make them a natural choice for home theater PCs. The ASUS GeForce GTX 670 DirectCU Mini is designed to maximize the potential offered by mini ITX motherboards by delivering high performance graphics. It uses an exclusive DirectCU thermal design that combines a heat-spreading vapor chamber and the CoolTech Fan, which provides wide-angle airflow and venting to cool critical graphics card components.
ASUS has re-engineered the DirectCU cooler to fit small form factor cases. While shorter, it introduces a copper vapor chamber placed directly on top of the GPU for faster heat spreading and dispersal with 20% (or 7.5∘C) lower temperatures than reference GTX 670. Also new is the CoolTech Fan, a blower/axial crossover. Its inclusion translates into wide-angle and powerful airflow that keeps vital card components cool, with heat vented through the back and top of the card. It also provides three times quieter operation, all within a limited space.
Taking advantage of its smaller form factor, the ASUS GeForce GTX 670 DirectCU Mini uses Direct Power technology, which bridges power delivery components and the GPU for clean and efficient power supply, delivering 56% lower impedance and a 15% cooler PCB. Super Alloy Power capacitors, chokes, and MOSFETs are hardened against heat and stress, averaging 2.5 times the lifespan of generic parts.
Exclusive graphics card tuning utility GPU Tweak is bundled with the ASUS GeForce GTX 670 DirectCU Mini. An intuitive interface makes changing core and clock frequencies, fan speeds, voltages, and power consumption targets easy, helping get more performance out of the graphics card. Game-specific profiles can be created, which combined with effortless overclocking help LAN party goers maximize performance for competitive engagements.
