Best Single Slot Low Profile GPU for a Kaby Lake Sierra build?

[tycoonbob]

Not finding very many options for a low profile, single-slot GPU...let alone something that is supported in a Kaby Lake-based, Serra hackintosh.

System:
Gigabyte GA-Z270N-WIFI
i7-7700
32GB Crucial Ballistix
Crucial MX300 275GB SSD
Streacom F7C Alpha Case
PicoPSU XT160 (system is currently only pulling around 40W, so should have plenty of power for a basic GPU)

I guess my biggest thing to base this all on is Geekbench 4 compute benchmarks. My Mid-2015 MBP (15-inc, i7, 16GB, Iris Pro and R9 M370X) is current benching around 27k (Iris) and 40k (M370X), while the HD 630 on my new build is around 17k. I was really hoping to see more around 30k with the HD 630, though I'm sure it may get there in the future with better optimization. However, I'd rather add a decent GPU that can fit in this case (and with my power requirements) that has performance better than an iGPU HD 630. Does such an option exist? Am I limited to only Nvidia, or would Radeon be an option here?

 

[nobodynose]

The most powerful Nvidia card I could find that is single slot & low profile is a GT 730 (https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0150O6PTA/?tag=tonymacx86com-20). The most powerful AMD card is an RX 460 (https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814137089), which has some problems under Sierra (namely it won't wake from sleep properly - see https://www.tonymacx86.com/threads/radeon-compatibility-guide-ati-amd-graphics-cards.171291/ for more info). I hope that helps.

 

[tycoonbob]

The most powerful Nvidia card I could find that is single slot & low profile is a GT 730 (https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0150O6PTA/?tag=tonymacx86com-20). The most powerful AMD card is an RX 460 (https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814137089), which has some problems under Sierra (namely it won't wake from sleep properly - see https://www.tonymacx86.com/threads/radeon-compatibility-guide-ati-amd-graphics-cards.171291/ for more info). I hope that helps.

Thanks for the info. I was aware of the 730, which I case across yesterday. Specifically, I was looking at this Zotac:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00R5UW038/?tag=tonymacx86com-20

Never came across the RX 460, though the wake issue doesn't seem great. I could live with that.

Are either of these cards a substantially improvement over a HD630 iGPU?

 

[nobodynose]

According to Tom's Hardware's GPU Hierarchy, the RX 460 is.

 

[pastrychef]

I recently picked up a used GTX 745 from eBay for use in my i7 3770 system. It's essentially a GTX 750 with slower VRAM. These were never sold as retail cards and were only available as part of OEM builds from the likes of Dell and HP.

I did also need to buy a low profile PCI-e bracket for it. But it was easy to find since most of the Nvidia low profile brackets are compatible with each other.


In regards to your Geekbench 4 results, I don't know how it calculates scores but it doesn't make much sense to me. I have found that Geekbench 3 produces far more consistent and reproducible scores. It makes much more sense when comparing scores with specs. Just my two cents...

 

[thearod]

Not trying to Hijack but does anyone have any suggestions for a GPU that works OTB that has display port and support 1440p? Intel 530 is killing me!

 

[pastrychef]

I have an old Dell OEM GT 640 that has worked out of the box since I still had my Mac Pro and continued to work on my hackintoshes. It has DisplayPort, HDMI, and DVI-D.

 

[tycoonbob]

I recently picked up a used GTX 745 from eBay for use in my i7 3770 system. It's essentially a GTX 750 with slower VRAM. These were never sold as retail cards and were only available as part of OEM builds from the likes of Dell and HP.

I did also need to buy a low profile PCI-e bracket for it. But it was easy to find since most of the Nvidia low profile brackets are compatible with each other.
View attachment 242635

In regards to your Geekbench 4 results, I don't know how it calculates scores but it doesn't make much sense to me. I have found that Geekbench 3 produces far more consistent and reproducible scores. It makes much more sense when comparing scores with specs. Just my two cents...

This right here is the kind of secret hardware I was hoping to find!

Looks like they're about $50-75 used on ebay, which is cool. 4GB RAM, and I assume it'd support dual 1440p displays and fit in my case. According to a couple different ebay listings, they pull around 55W, which should be just fine in my build.

Do these work out of the box on hackintosh? Would you mind running the Geekbench 4 Compute test if you have this card in a hackintosh? I would love to see how it compares to the HD 630 (in it's current state).

 

[pastrychef]

This right here is the kind of secret hardware I was hoping to find!

Looks like they're about $50-75 used on ebay, which is cool. 4GB RAM, and I assume it'd support dual 1440p displays and fit in my case. According to a couple different ebay listings, they pull around 55W, which should be just fine in my build.

Do these work out of the box on hackintosh? Would you mind running the Geekbench 4 Compute test if you have this card in a hackintosh? I would love to see how it compares to the HD 630 (in it's current state).

Yes, this card is entirely PCI-e bus powered.

You will need to use the Nvidia web drivers.

I am not currently near that system... But here's a Cinebench result that I got a few months back:

 

[tycoonbob]

Yes, this card is entirely PCI-e bus powered.

You will need to use the Nvidia web drivers.

I am not currently near that system... But here's a Cinebench result that I got a few months back:
View attachment 243251

Perfect, and thank you!

This is my i5-7500 and HD 630 (name isn't reporting correctly, but it is loading correctly under Sierra). Seems that the GTX 745 is a strong improvement, and I just ordered one for $60 (plus another $4.99 for the bracket). Hopefully I can just install the nvidia web drivers via multibeast and all will be good then. Thanks a ton for sharing this card with me!!