Hi Steve,

I too was initially confused by all these terms. I have Dell Inspiron 660s and Inspiron 3647. Both are SFFs. I then came to understand that SFF meant that the casing is small such that additional graphics card (or any expansion via internal slots) is limited by size / dimension.

I noticed generally SFF PCs meant slim casing (if placed standing “tall” it has narrow width, or if placed flat / sleeping position to put your monitor on top it has low height).

For the rest of my text, I will use the flat / sleeping PC position as reference coz it seems most dimension for graphics cards in internet are referred to the way.

So, SFF meant low height. Full height PC will have 12cm brackets. Low height / low profile card will have 8cm brackets. Brackets are “independent” from the size of the graphics card board.

Graphics card (GC) board may be 12cm or 8cm in height. Those with 12cm height (full height) can only use 12 cm bracket, while 8cm tall GC board can use both 8cm and 12cm brackets. In fact I saw some GC height are taller than 12cm brackets to fit PCs that are full towers (not mini towers or SFFs).

I noted that generally “low profile” GC refers to the GC board height only, ie 8cm. It does not refer to the height of the bracket (coz that can be changed). In fact I see many YouTube videos showing low profile GC package comes default with full height bracket attached, but with a spare low profile bracket.

But be warned, coz I have also seen “low profile” GC with 4 HDMI outputs fixed to the bracket. You cannot change that one. Thus they shouldn’t have called that “low profile” coz you need a PC with 12cm height bracket.

To identify a true low profile GC, they generally have only 2 output ports for normal sized ports. Combo of DVI+HDMI, HDMI+DP, DVI+VGA etc.

That said, I have also seen 4 ports low profile GC. Those uses mini versions of output ports, such as mini-DP (DisplayPort), and thus was able to fit in 4 output ports. I saw that in Asus Nvidia Quadro GC.

Another low profile GC that has 3 output ports that can fit into 8cm are those with detachable VGA ports. You can buy a separate VGA-only bracket for these type of GC. That VGA port is connected to the GC via cables, thus is flexible to be placed in the empty bracket slot next to the GC bracket. This is suitable for SFFs that have 1 PCIe slot but with extra space for bracket next to the GC slot.

Now, back to GC low profile issue. Low profile refers to height (for PC laid flat / sleeping position) but that does not guarantee your low profile GC can fit your SFF PC. We need to consider length and width as well. Coz PCIe slots generally are placed in a specific distance from the bracket, all GC have the same distance from the bracket to the first pin of PCIe connector. And because PCIe 2.0 /3.0 slot have a fixed number of pins, this means internally your SFF will have space sufficient for those connector to occupy. That means your SFF will have at least 15cm length for GC.

Some may fit longer GC, some can’t – due to obstruction within the confines of the casing. Nevertheless, if your SFF is using PCIe 2.0 onwards, your SFF can fit a 15cm GC.

Hence, though named “low profile” we still need to open up the SFF casing and measure the length of the space that GC will be fitted into.

Final dimension is width. Most “low profile” compensate their height by occupying space for the next slot. They are “fatter” like those cards reviewed here. These take up 2 slots. If you look at the GC from the bracket view and see the fans protruding out, it means that GC will occupy 2 slots despite being labelled “low profile”.

If you want those “low profile” GC that only occupy single slot, do look for the term “low profile single slot” GC (normally called GPU).

For both my Dell SFFs, I am limited to low profile single slot due to the position of their sole PCIe slot, which is located at the edge of the motherboard (mobo) next to the walls of the casing.

There are not many choices for low profile single slot GPU. And they are not powerful and not designed for gaming. They can play games but with low settings and slower frame rates.

I noticed the common ones for “low profile single slot” in the market are for GT710 and GT1030. I only saw one GTX1050 from an unknown brand called ASL but that seems to a vapourware. I never the actual product being reviewed.

The highest AMD rated low profile single slot GPU I saw in internet is Yeston RX550. They sell directly from China.

All GTXs it seems needed better cooling and more power. And I believe those needs made them either full height single slot or low profile dual slot, but none is low profile single slot. Maybe one day better technology will resolve this aspect.

Final note. Your GPU has power needs. It must match your power supply (watch this requirement closely or you may over wok your power supply). They call this PSU.

On power issue, you also need to know whether you have spare pins to supply power to your GPU. I think all GTXs needed separate power, thus your SFF must have power pins to supply power.

Those low profile single slot GPU that I saw in internet (GT710 and GT1030 and Yeston RX550) draws power from your PCIe slot, thus they do not require any separate power connector. They power requirement is generally maximum of 30-40w which I read from internet is generally sufficiently handled by most SFFs.

Anyway, I hope the above helps. Happy shopping.

PS: I finally bought Asus GT710 with silent cooling (using small fins) for my Dell 660s. Now I’ve ordered a MSI GT1030 for my Dell 3647. Waiting for it’s arrival which I worry may have “out of stock” issue. …

I have a GTX 1650 Low Profile GPU in my computer (Also a HP 800 G1 Elitedesk SFF Desktop). I’ve had no problems at all ever since I first got it. I’ve never experienced a single power issue, graphical issue, etc.. It is perfect for medium gaming and a lot of other things.

It’s going to be very close but 225W might be enough. Figure it’ll use 75W for the GPU leaving 150W for the rest of your system. My CPU (i7-8700) uses up to 65W so it would leave 85W for memory, motherboard and HDDs. Use SSDs to save some power and you’ll probably be okay.