What are NVIDIA SFF-Ready Enthusiast GeForce Cards?

The focus of the NVIDIA SFF-Ready initiative revolves on giving users a quick and easy way to understand which GeForce graphics cards can fit into which of the many small form factor cases. The days when "card length" was the only concern are long gone. In recent years, brands have really stepped up their game. They are now building GPUs that are not only high-performing but also quiet and cool. This also means that there are no longer any of the usual size restrictions that were once common.

One of the main reasons there was such a limitation in the first place was the fact that motherboards 10+ years ago were not nearly as jam-packed with features. Instead, enthusiasts bought expansion cards for everything, that included sound, Ethernet, Wi-Fi, physics and RAID controllers. This means that needing access to all those expansion slots while retaining cooling for your GPU was a pretty tangible requirement.

Nowadays, motherboards sport everything you would likely need. Many users consider ATX motherboards a waste of space that require a big case, especially when they just want a single PCIe slot where they can plop in their graphics card. Breaking down this barrier to smaller form factors has been the key in the rise of SFF. The industry has gone from bespoke, custom systems like those from Shuttle, to boutique ITX case designs with a limited motherboard selection and a now completely fleshed out market segment with cases and boards at all kinds of price points.

That diversity and accessibility to this small form factor stands in direct contrast to GPUs that have gotten bigger and bigger over time. The first generation of GeForce GTX 10-Series reference cards were true 2-slot cards around 270 mm in length. In contrast, the latest GeForce RTX 40-series cards are full 3 slot units over 300 mm for the reference variant. Circling back to the first point made above, even considering such a size, you can find GeForce RTX 40-series SKUs that are even bigger and also wider than that. To top it all off, you now also have to consider things like placement of the power plugs, for example.


Long story short, the NVIDIA SFF-Ready initiative is designed to include the GPUs of all major brands using the GeForce RTX 4070, 4070 Ti and 4080, plus their SUPER variants that fit a very specific set of physical attributes:

• 151 mm maximum height including power cable bend radius
• 304 mm maximum length
• 50 mm or 2.5 slots maximum depth

Similarly, the initiative outlines the clearances a case must provide to be included. This takes into account both the classic mounting layout and upright ones—which are quite common in compact SFF enclosures.

The introduction of NVIDIA's Build Small, Play Big: SFF-Ready Enthusiast GeForce Cards & Compatible Cases provides you with two lists - one with NVIDIA GeForce RTX GPUs and one of SFF enclosures. Meaning, you can mix and match, knowing with certainty it will all come together beautifully.

At the time of writing, the list of GPUs includes 84 SKUs from every single brand. This even includes three GeForce RTX 4080 Super SKUs, of which two are from ASUS. As such, it makes sense that we opted for their GeForce RTX ProArt GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER OC Edition as part of our build. On the other end, there is that list of verified compatible cases, 23 in total, from 14 different brands.

Even if a specific GeForce RTX or ITX chassis is not on these lists, with the clearly defined dimensions and clearances, you have a much better basis to confidently plan building a potent SFF gaming rig that fits your preferences.