Subhanka
Everyone in the Computer world should be aware of Graphics Card and its functionality and most of the time they decide to buy the ones that are favoured by them. However, there are two types of graphics card presently available in the market and both offers more or less same features but it varies according to their size and form factor (as it can be said). The two types are popularly known as Low Profile Graphics Card and the other being a Standard size Graphics Card. In our today’s topic, we are going to discuss the benefits of choosing a Low Profile Graphics Card.
Dimensions
A Low Profile Graphics card is one which is smaller in size than the typical graphics cards and comes with either a single PCI expansion slot or they are actually smaller in size than the standard one. The smallest standard of low profile graphics card is around 6.674 inches in length which is the best solution when you are low in space for your other hardware components.
Energy Efficiency
Low Profile Graphics card tends to draw less power in comparison to that of a Standard Graphics card. Generally, a Profile Graphics Card draws around 25 watts of power which is quite low than its counterpart. However, both type of graphics card may require an additional source of power through the SMPS. Moreover, a Low Profile Graphics Card require less power because they are generally less powerful than the Standard Graphics Card but it can be helpful when you are having a low wattage Power Supply Unit and willing not to invest more money in buying a new high wattage PSU.
Cooling
Low Profile Graphics card is smaller in size and as a result, they are equipped with either one fan or smaller fans or no fans at all which results in lower cooling ability and to overcome the chances of generating more heat a Low Profile Graphics Card is equipped with a smaller graphics processing unit which dissipates much less amount of heat and can be said that it will be a perfect match for SFF builds.
Some of the graphics cards like shown above have a bigger aluminium heatsink which helps in skipping the fan as the bigger heatsink is enough in most of the situations which don’t involve any overclocking.
Should you buy a Low profile GPU?
So the main question now comes down to one point, why you should choose a Low Profile Graphics card??? And the perfect answer to this question should be quite simple. A Low Profile Graphics Cards is a perfect match in those scenarios where a computer is in need of having multiple PCIe components which will cause less room for a full length or Standard Profile Graphics cards, as for example, in most workstation those PCIe slots are occupied by other components and thus the Quadros are meant for Workstation PC’s and they are also used in PC builds where there is less room itself such as the small-form-factor PC cases. Low Profile Graphics cards also cost relatively much lower than their standard counterparts.
