Monday, June 17th 2024

Zephyr Unveils ITX-sized Sakura Blizzard RTX 4070 Graphics Card

by
AleksandarK
 Discuss (56 Comments)
PC enthusiasts who crave powerful graphics in compact systems have a new option from Zephyr. The Chinese manufacturer has launched the world's first ITX-sized GeForce RTX 4070 graphics card. Dubbed the Sakura Blizzard, this GPU packs NVIDIA's AD104-250 chip and 12 GB of GDDR6X memory into a footprint of just 172 x 123 x 42 mm. While slightly taller than standard PCIe brackets, the two-slot cooler should fit most Mini-ITX cases. The card's cute pink shroud and solitary cooling fan give it a unique aesthetic. But don't let the pink looks fool you - Zephyr claims this compact powerhouse can keep the GPU and memory up to 10°C cooler than some dual-fan RTX 4070 designs, which needs to be taken with a grain of salt. Thermal testing videos show the fan spinning at 2,400 RPM to maintain GPU temperatures around 73°C under load in a 25°C room. Meanwhile, synthetic benchmarks reportedly demonstrate no performance compromises versus full-sized RTX 4070 implementations.

Zephyr's initial production run has already sold out in China. However, a second batch is slated for mid-July availability to meet the apparent higher demand for small form factor RTX 40-series GPUs. The launch comes just weeks after NVIDIA unveiled new "SFF-ready" design guidelines at Computex 2024. As the power-hungry RTX 40 lineup hit the market, many voiced concerns over the cards' ever-growing dimensions. NVIDIA's renewed SFF PC focus signal options like the Sakura Blizzard could become more common. For space-constrained enthusiasts, having top-tier GPU muscle in a properly-cooled Mini-ITX card is a big win. Zephyr's ITX-sized RTX 4070 shows powerful things can come in small packages, and we hope more manufacturers follow this philosophy.
Sources: Zephyr, via Tom's Hardware, VideoCardz

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56 Comments on Zephyr Unveils ITX-sized Sakura Blizzard RTX 4070 Graphics Card

#26
Lew Zealand
londisteMore in a sense that there is nothing really special about that card, no real extra effort from manufacturer. They just screwed a smaller cooler to it.
londisteNo real reason to keep small when they have bigger coolers readily available on the shelf? Outside physical size more cooling is better anyway.
So it would take extra effort and time and likely even expertise to design a smaller cooler that works instead of simply grabbing the 4080 cooler off the shelf. Which contradicts your first statement. So which is it?
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#27
TheinsanegamerN
Lew ZealandI don't get the negativity some have with this card, buy a 3-fan model if your fetish is 58°C operating temps 'cuz those aren't going anywhere. This gives SFF builders the choice they need, an actually small 4070 where they were limited to 4060 Ti's previously. And if you don't like 73°C, then undervolt it and maybe underclock it too, it'll still be faster than the 4060/Ti with more VRAM than all but the 16GB version.

What's not to like with more choices?
Because much like trucks, houses, ece people's validation is the size of their stuff, and if you demonstrate a smaller one works just fine and is what you want, their egos get threatened.

Personally I LOVE that cards like this are made. Assuming we can get one here stateside. Put this is an asrock deskmeet and you have a tiny SFF gaming PC. That would be sweet.
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#28
wolf
Better Than Native
londisteNow this should be called SFF-Ready or whatever that term was...
A card that makes sense for that terminology they're abusing! this actually is SFF, the others barely qualify as "not excessively large"
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#29
mechtech
Wonder if there will be a cost adder for "less stuff-smaller size" and the "sakura" theme?
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#30
TheinsanegamerN
mechtechWonder if there will be a cost adder for "less stuff-smaller size" and the "sakura" theme?
Biggest cost addon is gonna be "getting one shipped outside of china"-ium.
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#31
Caring1
wNotyarDBecause "bigger's better", ain't it?
Reminded me of a sign I saw while driving earlier, a Subway ad, 6 inches for $6.
I didn't have time to stop and take a Pic of myself beside it. :roll: o_O
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#32
CheapMeat
Finally, been waiting for something like this since I loved the R9 Nano. But like most of the interesting cards we see press releases of on TPU, like even all the blower designs we see, it'll be impossible to actually get at least in the U.S..
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#33
cristi_io
TomgangNow thats a proper SSF gpu. To bad with colour theme, that is apselutely not my taste.

Now i have to ask. When do we see a proper SSF rtx 4090:p?

Before any one roast me, Zotax actually made a fairly small gtx 1080 TI back when pascal was the new to get. Not totally SFF with single fan, but small enoufh to fit in many small cases today. Imagine a RTX 4080 super/4090 in this small package. So it is possible to put a high-end gpu in a small package. Problem is just that its 250 watt vs. 450 watt. Yeah 450 watt much harder to put in a SSF size card.

Yes, the 1080Ti Mini, i have the 1080Mini, they are tiny compared to the curent crop of cards. Pity not many producers make small cards.
Zotac only has the 4060 in small format: ZOTAC GAMING GeForce RTX 4060 8GB SOLO, it's only 163 mm long. I bet they can make a 4070/4070super in the same format, maybe 20cm long with 2 9cm fans for better cooling.
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#34
nguyen
A pretty tiny GPU that would be nice for a show-piece build, rather than a functional PC build.
cristi_ioYes, the 1080Ti Mini, i have the 1080Mini, they are tiny compared to the curent crop of cards. Pity not many producers make small cards.
Zotac only has the 4060 in small format: ZOTAC GAMING GeForce RTX 4060 8GB SOLO, it's only 163 mm long. I bet they can make a 4070/4070super in the same format, maybe 20cm long with 2 9cm fans for better cooling.
I guess being louder than the blower fan on the 1080 Ti founder is the reason why not many producers are making small cards
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#35
AusWolf
Dirt ChipFinally a sane GPU.
Reminds me of good old 970gtx ITX I had.
Just show how those 3 slot, 3 fans GPU are just a show-off feature.
It's never about the size, but how you use it. ;)
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#36
Ruru
S.T.A.R.S.
TomgangNow thats a proper SSF gpu. To bad with colour theme, that is apselutely not my taste.

Now i have to ask. When do we see a proper SSF rtx 4090:p?

Before any one roast me, Zotax actually made a fairly small gtx 1080 TI back when pascal was the new to get. Not totally SFF with single fan, but small enoufh to fit in many small cases today. Imagine a RTX 4080 super/4090 in this small package. So it is possible to put a high-end gpu in a small package. Problem is just that its 250 watt vs. 450 watt. Yeah 450 watt much harder to put in a SSF size card.

Fullcover waterblock would make that possible. I don't think it's possible with air (at least easily).
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#37
Vayra86
SL2I heard some rumor that 4070 was expected to be much hotter than it was, I dunno..
Yeah and 'woops!' we just dropped a 3 slot cooler on that chip! Oh gosh, that's unfortunate, I'm sure it couldn't be helped.

:roll:

I heard a rumor Turing, Ampere and Ada have heralded in an era of ultra low effort products for Nvidia. I smell it too.
wNotyarDBecause "bigger's better", ain't it?
It depends what you do with it, they say.
Beginner Macro DeviceI'd unironically buy one of these to ultimately repaint and make it a decent Terminator themed piece of ware. Heck, I'd even spill a wee liquid metal on the die so it'd be a tad more authentic.
Well honestly, I'm actually a little triggered by this cute little mofo. Somehow I even like its design and I want to make a tiny PC with this.

We need more of this stuff, especially given the tiny PCBs now, this is/was such a missed opportunity.
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#38
AusWolf
Vayra86I heard a rumor Turing, Ampere and Ada have heralded in an era of ultra low effort products for Nvidia. I smell it too.
Rumour? I thought that was established fact.

I mean, the last great Nvidia architecture was called Pascal. Then, they added RT demo cores and AI bollocks that not a single soul on the planet asked for and called it Turing. Then, they made half of the cores INT/FP dual issue just to double the CUDA core count on paper to look better, and called the result Ampere Turing 2.0. Then, they did absolutely nothing, and called the result Ada Turing 2.1.
Vayra86Well honestly, I'm actually a little triggered by this cute little mofo. Somehow I even like its design and I want to make a tiny PC with this.

We need more of this stuff, especially given the tiny PCBs now, this is/was such a missed opportunity.
I'm tempted to get a low profile 4060 just for shits'n'giggles. The only thing holding me back is that such a purchase would jeopardise my pre-planned autumn/winter GPU upgrade.
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#39
PLAfiller
Now I can build the IKEA-PC:D with the ultra-budget compact case from Aercool-CS109 which sells for €30 locally and fit cards up to 260mm. That's what I call SFF-GPU as others have noted. I have been eyeing that little bugger for a while...I mean €30 that's like a movie ticket these days.
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#40
nguyen
Any dual fan GPU can fit into that case, why do you need a single fan GPU?
Posted on Reply
#41
lexluthermiester
londisteNow this should be called SFF-Ready or whatever that term was...
Um no. SFF would be a half-height card. Different spec altogether.


I wouldn't mind having one of these cards, minus all the flowery-pink frufru crap. The white & gold is good, but the pink and flowers have got to go..
Posted on Reply
#42
PLAfiller
nguyenAny dual fan GPU can fit into that case, why do you need a single fan GPU?
Oh no, I don't need the single fan I was more pointing attention towards the length of the cards these days. Ain't that many cards up to 260mm that hold some power under the hood. Actual plan is to build a workstation inside the CS-109 with either A2000 (already have one) or RTX4000 (241mm length), I ain't after a GeForce card at all.
Posted on Reply
#43
Tomgang
cristi_ioYes, the 1080Ti Mini, i have the 1080Mini, they are tiny compared to the curent crop of cards. Pity not many producers make small cards.
Zotac only has the 4060 in small format: ZOTAC GAMING GeForce RTX 4060 8GB SOLO, it's only 163 mm long. I bet they can make a 4070/4070super in the same format, maybe 20cm long with 2 9cm fans for better cooling.
I would be nice if better cards could be turned to sff size gpu's.

Gigabyte, Asus and Galaxy has low profile version of the rtx 4060. I have the gigabyte and Asus cards. The Asus card is in particular actually a pretty good card for it size. Im surprise by Asus cooling solution.
Keullo-eFullcover waterblock would make that possible. I don't think it's possible with air (at least easily).
Agreed it could be possible with Water cooling. But not all use water including me. I also think making a sff aircooled card out of rtx 4090 is very difficult. There blower fan versions that are only two slot. But these are noisy and hot running. Mainly to be used in rag systems.
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#44
londiste
lexluthermiesterUm no. SFF would be a half-height card. Different spec altogether.
Those are either low profiler or half-height. Somewhat different segment that already has a few applicable names :)
Posted on Reply
#45
lexluthermiester
londisteThose are either low profiler or half-height. Somewhat different segment that already has a few applicable names :)
Sure, those are descriptions. However, the SFF spec is NOT what NVidia is trying to redefine.
Posted on Reply
#46
londiste
lexluthermiesterSure, those are descriptions. However, the SFF spec is NOT what NVidia is trying to redefine.
Well, yes. That was my point. 172 x 123 x 42 mm is good enough to call SFF.
Posted on Reply
#47
lexluthermiester
londisteWell, yes. That was my point. 172 x 123 x 42 mm is good enough to call SFF.
No, it isn't. The SFF spec for addin cards is limited to half height(70mm), single slot(18mm) at generally 180mm long.
Posted on Reply
#50
londiste
lexluthermiesterNo, it isn't. The SFF spec for addin cards is limited to half height(70mm), single slot(18mm) at generally 180mm long.
There are two form factors for PCI Express cards - standard height and low profile. These are the main AIC form factors, further specs are about double and triple slot plus some standardization around length.
SFF - as discussed in that long thread about the stupid NVidia thing - is not an official term. Today, SFF is usually more accommodating to standard (or slightly higher) height cards than long or extremely thick ones.
lexluthermiesterThe SFF spec for addin cards is limited to half height(70mm), single slot(18mm) at generally 180mm long.
What, where, whose spec?
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