Building a gaming rig capable of 4K visuals and handling virtual reality experiences for the next few years requires a great graphics card, and you can't get much better than a Nvidia GeForce GTX 1080 right now. The problem is, they aren't small cards meaning a small case is out of the question. At least, it was. Gigabyte decided to solve that particular problem by creating the world's smallest GTX 1080.

It's called the GeForce GTX 1080 Mini ITX 8G. Where as a typical 1080 measures 26.7cm (10.5-inches) in length, the 8G only measures 16.9cm (6.65-inches). That's a saving of nearly four inches. And the smaller size does not translate into a compromise on performance. The 8G enjoys a core clock speed of 1,607MHz boosting to 1,733MHz, and retains the standard 8GB GDDR5X 256bit memory clocked at 10,010MHz.

Cooling is provided by a custom-designed combination of three pure copper composite heat pipes and a 90mm fan with a unique fan blade design. Heat pipes are also employed to direct heat away from the components. Those unique fan blades apparently enhance airflow by 23 percent over traditional fans, and it's semi-passive so will react to how hard the card is being pushed and keeps fan noise to a minimum.

Gigabyte include the AORUS Graphics Engine Utility with the card, which allows for "one-click super overclocking." When enabled, the base clock speed increases from 1,607MHz to 1,632MHz, while the boost speed increases from 1,733MHz to 1,771MHz. It's a small overclock, but could be worth a few frames-per-second when playing games.

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The 8G squeezes in a dual-link DVI-D port, HDMI, and three DisplayPort ports supporting a maximum output resolution of 7,680-by-4,320 spread across up to four displays. And because this is a GTX 1080, you're going to need at least a 500W power supply to run it.

According to Engadget, there's no word on pricing or availability yet, but if you're tempted to build a Mini ITX gaming rig in the near future then the 8G card may be worth waiting for. Just keep in mind a smaller card does not necessarily mean a smaller price tag. Gigabyte could rightly decide to charge a premium for this tiny graphics card.

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