MSI one of the first to launch a long-awaited Mini-ITX compatible RTX 30-series card

PC gamers have been flocking to Mini-ITX form factor gaming rigs as they can offer similar performance to full-size ATX rigs but are much more compact. It's been a few months since Nvidia launched its high-performance next-generation RTX 30-series GPUs for rigs capable of supporting full-size cards with dual and triple fans and Mini-ITX fans have, for the most part, had to look on enviously. 

The wait, however, is now over. MSI has announced one of the first RTX 30-series cards for the Mini-ITX market. The new MSI GeForce RTX 3060 Ti Aero ITX features the compact dimensions of 172 x 125 x 43 mm which is 40 percent smaller and 50 percent lighter than a full-size graphics card. To keep things cool, it uses a custom single-fan design coupled with up to 6 mm thick copper heat pipes to maximize the heat transfer from the surface baseplate.

The MSI GeForce RTX 3060 Ti Aero ITX is clocked at 1665 MHz and is fitted with 8 GB of GDDR6 RAM. It includes one HDMI port that supports 4K at 120 Hz (as specified with HDMI 2.1) along with three DisplayPort 1.4a connectors. It utilizes a single 8-pin connector and draws 200 W which MSI suggests will work best with a power supply delivering at least 650 W of power. While the card won’t enjoy quite the same sustained performance as larger cards with bigger heat sinks and larger fans, it will still deliver the same prodigious 16 TFLOPS of peak performance albeit over a somewhat shorter duration.

MSI has not yet announced pricing for what we expect will be another highly sought after RTX 30-series card.

Buy the full-size MSI Gaming Trio RTX 3060 Ti from Amazon.