MSI has quietly introduced one of the tiniest RTX 5060 graphics cards yet. The new MSI GeForce RTX 5060 8G Inspire ITX measures just 145 x 120 x 45mm. Despite this cute single-fan wonder’s admirably short stature, it will still take up two slots in your case. Let’s look and see what, if any, other compromises MSI has made.
We published a roundup of all the new RTX 5060 (and RTX 5060 Ti) graphics cards back in April. All the usual brands were covered, and we saw MSI roll out designs of this 145W TGP graphics card ranging from hulking triple-fan cards, through modest dual-spinner designs, to the retro cool shroud-less Cyclone models. We only saw dual-fan Inspire series models at that time.
Looking at the specs of the new MSI Inspire card, we see that the Nvidia partner has released both a standard and an OC model of this ITX-friendly product. Of course, the key specs such as the GPU cores, memory quota, type, and bus width remain the same as every other RTX 5060 around, but we were curious to see if the tiny form factor has any impact on performance specs like max GPU clocks. You can see for yourself in the abridged table below.
Tom's Hardware |
Nvidia reference |
MSI Inspire ITX |
MSI Inspire ITX OC |
MSI Gaming Trio OC |
|---|---|---|---|---|
GPU cores |
3,840 |
3,840 |
3,840 |
3,840 |
Boost clocks |
2.50 GHz |
2.497 GHz |
2.527 GHz |
2.625 GHz |
Memory |
8GB GDDR7, 128-bit |
8GB GDDR7, 128-bit |
8GB GDDR7, 128-bit |
8GB GDDR7, 128-bit |
Power |
145W, 1x 8-pin |
145W, 1x 8-pin |
145W, 1x 8-pin |
155W, 1x 8-pin |
Size |
NA |
145 x 120 x 45mm |
145 x 120 x 45mm |
300 x 125 x 44mm |
Smaller than the MSI Cyclone, features the same GPU clocks
We also noticed that MSI’s other single-fan RTX 5060, the aforementioned Cyclone card, had the same GPU clocks in its regular / OC editions as the Inspire models. While the Cyclone is still compact, at 161 x 125 x 42mm, it is a little taller and longer in the slot. There’s not a lot in it, though, and the retro appeal of the Cyclone might sway some compact PC builders.
Noise and temperature profiling requires third-party assessment
What the official specs don’t show are some pretty important things like the noise level users will experience when these tiny graphics cards are idling or put under duress.
Looking at the numbers, MSI’s biggest and best overclocked model, with a 10W higher TGP, will likely be barely any faster than the tiniest cards. The max clocks are less than 5% better. However, this triple spinner MSI Gaming OC model should be a lot quieter. It is also likely to spin up less aggressively as the GPU won’t get so toasty, so quickly.
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