This is a complete Buyer’s Guide to Best Low Profile Graphics Card in 2022. 🤴
And let me be clear about something:
Our Selection of the Best Low Profile Graphics Card in the current market is based on Resolution, PSU, Video Memory, and Synchronization.
So without further ado, Let’s dive right in. 🎭
Since its inception, the computer technology world has been experiencing steady groundbreaking developmental strides, especially in framework creation and development.
These massive developments have led to different features in the computer to serve our various needs – with computer gaming occupying a very high position in the lists. Over time, different computer games have been developed, all carrying different features and system requirements.
These gaming features and requirements have proven to be dynamic. They are constantly changing, alongside the development of new and more sophisticated games – each new game bringing along newer features and computer requirements.
Many people love and enjoy gaming, and quite a number of us, if not all, have had one or more memorable computer gaming experiences.
Now, in recent times, for the past few years, computer gaming frameworks’ usage has increased, with more people opting to play their best games using computers.
To a very large extent, however, the amount of fun you enjoy playing games on your computer and the types of games you can play depending on computer facilities. Chief among these computer gaming facilities is the Graphics Card.
Regarding gaming performance and the games you can play on your computer, your computer’s graphics card, also known as GPU, is the major component that plays the determinant role.
At the time of our research on the Best Low Profile Graphics Card, we found a video about “What’s Inside Your GRAPHICS CARD?” worth watching. 🤴🏆
Several graphics cards are available today with various features, capabilities, specifications, and designs, among other qualities.
These qualities determine how effective your computer gaming experience will be and what games you can play on your computer.
Graphics cards also play a crucial role in helping the computer to swiftly perform very complex tasks, like mining cryptocurrencies and many more. So, the graphics card you choose for your computer matters a lot.
Choosing the perfect graphics card for your computer type and gaming needs, however, can prove to be quite a difficult and frustrating task if you are yet to be familiar with the array of GPU models available in the market and how they function.
In this article, however, we shall provide sufficient information to allow you the necessary knowledge you need to make the perfect choice of graphics card for your gaming experience, irrespective of your budget.
Best Low Profile Graphics Card – Our Top Picks👌
1. Nvidia Geforce GTX 1050
If you want to build a low-budget gaming rig with as little cash as you can, then the Nvidia GeForce GTX 1050 is the perfect solution.
It is the cheapest available Pascal-generation graphics card today. And it can now play many of the most popular eSports games on a full HD display.
This graphics card has made it possible to enjoy high quality and popular computer games like CounterStrike: Fortnite and Global Offensive, Overwatch, etc., at the lowest possible price, just around £110.
The Nvidia 10-series GPUs are one massive upgrade from what was available before it. Built on the Pascal architecture, this generation of GPUs is a true forward leap at both the high end and bottom end of the graphics card range.
And the best part yet is that it fits perfectly for budget gaming computers and will still deliver a High Definition gaming experience to you.
Also, beyond just eSports games, GTX 1050 graphics cards can play the latest games at a full HD experience with just a little tweaking of its settings. It can even play such high-quality games as Civilization VI, Shadow of the Tomb Raider, and more.
Because of its low power consumption, this GPU suits just fine with ultra-budget computers or as an upgrade to already installed but much older graphics cards that do not have an external power connector.
It also fits perfectly with all-around laptops like the Dell XPS 15 and even bargain gaming laptops such as the Dell G3 15.
Specifications:-
- 2GB GDDR5 memory
- 640 CUDA cores
- TDP: 75W ( PCI-E bus powered)
- 1,455MHz boost clock
- 1,354MHz core clock
Below are some of the Pros and Cons of the Nvidia Geforce GTX 1050 that earned it a spot in our Best Low Profile Graphics Cards list.
Pros:-
- Fantastic reports performance
- Very many compact cards are available
- Capacity to play AAA games at medium settings
- Consumes very little power
Cons:-
- Its 2GB storage memory limits its potential
2. Aorus Radeon RX 570
The Aorus Radeon RX 570 is one of the Radeon RX 500-series graphics cards. These aren’t massive upgrades from what was available before with the RX 470 and RX 480 adjusted. Very few things have changed.
It still has the same underlying graphics card design, the same number of texture units, speed, and memory options ( 4GB and 8GB) available.
However, with this generation if the GPU series, there is a price reduction of $10, which makes it cheaper and boosts its value proposition.
The major difference with this upgrade from what was available in the previous technology is the clock speeds. Previously available technologies in this range were pushed to their capacity and barely had enough overclocking headroom.
Currently, though, where the RX 470 ranged from just a 926MHz base clock to a mere boost clock of 1,206MHz, the Radeon RX 570 makes an amazing upgrade from a base clock 1,168MHz to a 1,244MHz boost clock.
This might not be too much of an increase when compared on the high-end, but it sure is a noticeable upgrade to the baseline speeds. And it can even be further cranked up via factory overclocks.
More, to tackle the issue of high power demands by the older versions of the technology, even with their optimized process of manufacturing, the RX 500 series comes with a new power state that brings down its energy demands when the gamer is watching media, is idle, or using a multi-monitor set up.
It also has a chill feature which helps to reduce its temperature and power usage by a huge amount in about 17 popular computer games.
The Aorus Radeon RX 570 is an amazing, high-performance graphics card and the best available sub-$200 GPU option. Although, not much of an upgrade over the RX 470. Aorus Radeon RX 570 is the best low profile graphics card list.
Below are some of the Pros and Cons of the Aorus Radeon RX 570 that earned it a spot in our list of Best Low Profile Graphics Cards in 2022.
Pros:-
- 4GB RAM
- Cheaper than the RX 470 by $10
- Quiet, cool, and overclocked
- Fantastic 1080p gaming performance
Cons:-
- Not very efficient in power management
- Almost a repeat of the already existing RX 40
3. Nvidia GTX 1070 – Best low profile graphics card for gaming
Built to serve as an upgrade to the former version of the technology – the Nvidia 970 GPU, the GeForce GTX 1070 Nvidia graphics card had a very high standard to meet.
According to the company, The GPU is not just a massive improvement on the GTX 970; it also can stand in comparison against Nvidia’s £550 GTX 980 Ti. Much thanks to its use of Nvidia’s Pascal architecture.
The Pascal architecture is the replacement for Nvidia’s former Maxwell GPU architecture. It holds a record improvement on Maxwell GPU via a smaller manufacturing process that compresses the chips’ fabrication nodes to 16nm from 28 nm.
This Pascal architecture allows more transistors to be fixed into smaller silicon pieces. Thereby increasing the gaming performance while causing a reduction in the power that is consumed by it to as low as 150 watts.
With the help of the Pascal architecture, this GTX 1070 contains massive 1920 CUDA cores, which can be likened to a GPU’s foot soldiers.
I see that they perform a majority of the heavy computational tasks. This architecture upgrade is a massive improvement over the GTX 970 graphics card, which contains 1,664 CUDA cores.
The Pascal architecture has also introduced the GTX 1070 to asynchronous computing, the computing technology that allows a GPU to work on computing and graphics tasks simultaneously, causing it to complete tasks much faster.
The Nvidia GTX 1070 has a version of the Pascal architecture named ‘pre-emption’, which allows the GPU to choose prioritized processes more intelligently.
Specifications:-
- Pascal Architecture
- 1920 CUDA cores
- 8GB GDDR5 memory
- Base clock speed: 1506MHz
- Boost clock speed1683 MHz
Below are some of the Pros and Cons of the Nvidia GTX 1070 that earned it a spot in our list of Best Low Profile Graphics Cards to get in 2022.
Pros:-
- Does not produce noise while running
- Amazingly overclock-able
- Very effective power management
- Excellent 1440p gaming performance
Cons:-
- It does not have many SLI capabilities
4. Asus Radeon RX Vega 64
The Asus Radeon RX Vega 64 by AMD is a very fast graphics card in processing games. It is faster than the GeForce GTX 1080. However, not until recently, Nvidia’s GTX 1080 GPU was priced better than it, causing it to be recommended below the GeForce.
But now that the Asus Radeon RX Vega 64 has become much more affordable, it has bridged the price gap competition. We are making it even harder to select the two high-end GPU options.
Asus did a very good job designing this sharp-looking Radeon RX Vega 64 graphics card, which has a better performance than AMD’s reference implementation.
With RGB lighting, quiet fans, a big heat sink, an additional HDMI port for Video Recording Headsets, and many other high-quality features as additions to the upgrade, the Vega 64 is a massive improvement on the last available technology.
However, with its price more than $100 higher than the cheapest GTX, more needs to be done to beat down the price for better competition.
Below are some of the Pros and Cons of the Asus Radeon RX Vega 64 that earned it a spot in our Best Low Profile Graphics Cards list.
Pros:-
- It has a very excellent 1440p gaming performance
- It comes in an interestingly superb quality build
- It is aesthetically designed to carry a beautiful look
- It is a massive upgrade to the last available technology
- It is a good competition for Nvidia’s GTX GeForce
Cons:-
- Its price is very much on the high side
- Its temperature rises in closed cases
- Its fan speed isn’t quite high enough
5. Nvidia RTX 2080
If you are interested in trying out ray tracing and DLSS in your gaming experience but are not comfortable spending £1000 or more on a graphics card just for these features, the Nvidia RTX 2080 is the perfect solution you need.
The Nvidia RTX 2080 can be seen as the middle child in the new 20 series (also known as Turing) family of graphics cards by Nvidia It takes a position between the much more affordable RTX 2070 and the beastly RTX 2080 Ti.
There is barely much difference in the performance of the RTX 2080 and the cheaper GTX 1080 Ti, as they both offer a similar 4k performance, but the addition of ray tracing and DLSS in the Nvidia RTX 2080 which is just enough to make it one of the most sought after graphics card currently available in the market which makes it to fit in our best low profile graphics card list perfectly.
Compared to the formerly available technology – GTX 1080, the RTX 2080 includes several internal upgrades and a performance boost. This gives it a more stable frame rest when games run Ultra HD with it.
But then, beyond improved frame rates, the RTX 2080, just like all the GPUs in the RTX 20 series lineup features several fancy functions that are sure set to revolutionize the visuals of video games.
Deep Learning Super Sampling (DLSS) and real-time ray tracing are some of these features.
Specifications:-
- 8GB GDDR6 memory
- 1515MHz base clock speed
- New Turing architecture
- 2944 CUDA cores
- 8 Giga Rays per second
Below are some of the Pros and Cons of the Nvidia RTX 2080 that earned it a spot in our list of Best Low Profile Graphics Card to get in 2022.
Pros:-
- It offers DLSS and ray tracing for a much lower price than the RTX 2080 Ti.
- It can run any game in 4K smooth frame rates.
- It is quite a massive upgrade from the last available GTX 1080
Cons:-
- The Ray tracing and DLSS features are not available at the launch
- It offers the same 4k gaming performance as the GTX 1080 Ti which is much cheaper.
![Nvidia RTX 2080 & 2080 Ti REVIEW - Worth the Upgrade? [8 Games Tested!] | The Tech Chap](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/icYsbGEmQVM/0.jpg)
Best Low Profile Graphics Card: What To Consider
Whether upgrading to playing high-end games or simply because you want to gain a whole new level of experience, you will always be faced with the hard reality of choosing the best for your budget.
Thankfully, we have outlined some of the best graphics cards here, so it shouldn’t be a problem picking the right product again if you read this review.
The truth, however, is that apart from knowing the names of the best graphics card brands, there are still a few other things you should know about before buying a graphics card if you want the best for your buck. Here, we’ve highlighted a few of them that should help ease your search:
Performance is Expensive:- This is a fact in almost all purchases, whether for graphics cards, computers, or other electrical appliances.
Yes, there’s always the desire to get the graphics card that costs the least, especially when operating on a budget, but you need to know that performance varies directly with cost when it comes to graphics cards.
If you desire good performance, you certainly need to up the bucks. Yes! The best-performing cards are known to cost a lot. World-class graphics cards can cost up to $800 or even $1,000.
Well, you don’t need to cough out up to this amount because you’re searching for something great, especially considering the factor called diminishing returns, meaning that when it gets to a particular point, you begin to get less value for every additional money spent.
So when does it start? Some experts say diminishing returns start at $500. As much as you want better performance, spending more than $500 may be overkill, as the improved features after 500 aren’t too wowing to deserve such an amount of money.
Decide Your Needs Before Shopping:- We’ll never overemphasize the negative part of impulse buying, especially relating to high-end gadget purchases.
When shopping for graphics cards, there is the possibility of getting caught up in statistics like model numbers, processor cores, proprietary technology, and the rest.
While all this might make sense to people that are extremely technically savvy, it often doesn’t make sense to a vast majority of buyers. It should be important to know exactly what you need it for and go for the particular card with specs that fit your needs.
For instance, if you want to play Fallout 4 on your PC without having issues with smooth operation, look at the game’s graphics requirements and be sure that you are getting a card that meets or surpasses them. It should be used as a baseline.
You also need to look into how much money you want to spend. Yes, you will get to a point during shopping where you’ll need to adjust your initial budget, but the goal is not to go too far from the initial plan.
Once you know what you want in terms of specs and your budget, check out the products above for what fits you most, and stick to it.
RAM is Top Priority: We’ve talked before about graphics cards having a lot of statistics that are pretty difficult to understand. These statistics are why we define graphics cards.
While you may not necessarily need to know about some statistics, there are a few you must know before Purchasing. RAM is an important statistic that refers to how much memory your graphics card works with.
It is a no-brainer that the size of your RAM determines the efficacy of your computer in making graphics. So you see, the RAM size is very important to know, but the RAM type is even more important. Do you want to get high-performing RAM? You need to know the next performers.
We would have suggested DDR3 RAM a few years ago because it was the standard graphics card for great performance, but technology has evolved.
Today, we now have GDDR5 taking the lead. There are other cool types that you can get too. The point is to know what works best for your needs.
Do Your Research: While we’ve given a few recommendations for the best graphics cards, the truth remains that our suggestions may not meet your need, considering that we don’t know your computer specs or what you are using it for.
This is the reason for this section, to point you in the right direction in case you choose to go on with your research. If you know all the above factors we’ve listed and how to deal with them, there should be no problem getting the right graphics card for your needs.
Check out forums and spend time reading about particular graphics cards and their performance level. Decide the limit of your budget. Once all these are in place, you can select the best.
Best Low Profile Graphics Card: Important Factors
🤴Resolution:-
Regarding resolution, it is a simple rule; the more pixels you intend to push, the higher the gaming performance you need.
Therefore, it is important to consider the resolution of the graphics card in comparison with the resolution you want before buying. For example, for a game at about 1080p, you should not go for an off-the-line GPU.
🧩PSU:-
A power supply is another important consideration when getting a graphics card. You should ensure that your supply source and the card’s power requirements fit.
Plus, you should check out the 6 or 8-pin connector too, to make sure they match. For instance, the RX Vega 6 by AMD requires a 750 watts power capacity.
🏆Video Memory:-
This is another important aspect that you should pay good attention to when considering graphics cards. The seamlessness of your gaming experience and how much you enjoy gaming with your graphics card might depend on it to a large extent.
It is recommended that at least a 4GB memory card be used for the 1920×1080 and 2560×1440 GPU (QHD resolutions), and 8GB memory is required for the 3840×2160 (4k resolution).
📗Synchronization:-
you also need to consider if your monitor supports Free Sync or the G-Sync. For example, you will need a Radeon card if your monitor supports AMD’s Free Sync and the Nvidia’s GeForce cards go well with G-Sync-supported displays.
How to Properly Maintain a Graphics Card
Having discussed a lot about buying good-performing graphics cards, it is also important to discuss how to keep them working for a long time. Graphics cards are high-budget equipment and deserve to be used for a long time.
You don’t want to be running to a technician after a few weeks because the graphics card developed minor faults that would have been easily avoided with simple maintenance.
Knowing the right things to do and doing them is somewhere to start. Here are a few maintenance tips that are simple to adopt
Keep the graphics card away from dust:-
As much as possible, try to keep the graphics card somewhere that’s free from dust. Dust is a great enemy to the component’s performance.
A pile-up of dust on it can cause a lot of damage, so it is important to watch out for somewhere that’s less likely to attract dust.
Clean Properly:-
Cleaning the graphics card properly and regularly cannot be overemphasized. Create a routine that you can stick to, as it helps you remember to clean.
Avoid the use of moist cloth for cleaning; moisture can cause damage to the graphics card, so a dry piece of soft cloth will do. You can also use a light pressure blower to remove hidden parts’ dust.
Read Operation Manual:-
Most brands of graphics cards include an operation manual from the manufacturer. Proper usage and operation will require that you read and understand the operation manual.
Also, ensure that everyone working with the graphics card reads and understands the operation manual. A major mistake is to jump into operation with previous knowledge.
Every manufacturer has some operation techniques unique to their products, so operation might require looking at the specific instruction for the particular product.
📗 FAQs on Best Low Profile Graphics Card
Below are a few queries on Best Low Profile Graphics Card that everyone is expecting to answer, and I did include the same for my readers.
What is a low profile graphics card?
A low profile card is one that is smaller than a typical graphics card.
What is the difference between low profile video card?
Low profile graphics cards draw less power from the motherboard than standard graphics cards.
Does GTX 1650 need external power?
No, The only possible advantage the GTX 1650 has is its power efficiency.
How wide is a graphics card?
A full-size graphics card is about as long as an ATX motherboard is wide, so around 9.6 inches.
Conclusion
There you have it, a detailed breakdown of the best graphics cards in today’s market. These products have been highlighted to help you purchase only the best.
Additionally, we’ve highlighted some maintenance tips, so the purchase and usage of the graphics card can be as seamless as you would love it to be.
