A reasonably decent HTPC / Short graphics card?

[EndlessIdeas]

I have recently aquired a HTPC computer which I am trying to improve by adding a dedicated graphics card, but unfortunately I don't appear to have much space to do so due to the wiring.

Its actually a decent PC, which has an i3 540 and a corsair 400watt psu, but my problem is that I am after a GPU that is no longer than about 12-13cm.

Any help is very appreciated! my main aim is to be able to play basic games and even things like Hearthstone on max detail without any hint of slowdown, which is surprisingly difficult to do! the onboard graphics certainly doesn't cut it!

PC specs:

H55N-USB3
i3 540
corsair 400watt
8gb ram

 

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

Mate was running Heathstone fine on a Phenom II X4 and an HD5770.

This card would be more than enough:

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-345-SP&groupid=701&catid=56&subcat=1984

 

[Confused Stu]

12-13cm is going to be tricky as I'm pretty sure that's going to be shorter than the length of the PCI-Ex16 slot. Think the current most powerful card that comes in a small edition is this: http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-357-SP but even that's 17cm long. Afraid I don't know the game you've quoted so don't know if you'll be able to get away with something cheaper, but this card would be a beast for a tiny rig.

EDIT - correction, this is actually the most powerful card in that small form factor: http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-153-GI but it's even more money and potentially even more overkill! Oh, and currently on pre-order.

 

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

The game is a card game so the card I suggested is more than enough. The card is also is under 16CM long which is shorter than a mini-ITX motherboard too. OP, have you made the correct measurements?

 

[EndlessIdeas]

Thanks for the replies guys I'll get measuring the absolute max I can get away with and try to find something suitable!

I think the r7 250x suggestion might be great. I just need to read reviews as I am really hoping to find an almost silent option (but not passive! I'm not THAT OCD yet )

 

[EndlessIdeas]

OP, have you made the correct measurements?

In this PC case I've aquired, pretty much all the PSU wires have been pushed back to that side and I'm pretty low on room to move them anywhere else, so its quite tricky! but I'll have a mess now and try to free up another 4cm ! Its a fairly small case too which doesn't help!

 

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

What type of PSU is it??

ATX,SFX or TFX??

 

[Quartz]

That motherboard has a full-size PCIe x16 slot. You should be able to fit Gigabyte's new mini 970:



I'm sure I've seen a variant without the DVI ports