The concept of a Mini-ITX case is something that I’ve always found intriguing, though I admittedly never found much of a use case for them personally. However, there are clear scenarios for where they can be invaluable for gamers. Anyone who likes to participate in esports/BYOC events can clearly benefit from an easy-to-carry system. Additionally, I suppose you could just prefer not to have a giant tower at your desk area or could simply like to move around the house with you gaming system.
Whatever the case, Mini-ITX designs offer mobility with far better cooling capacity than laptops and the freedom to reconfigure your build. As components grow increasingly more powerful and more efficient (the latter of which is not exactly true for Ampere, but bear with me), more gamers may look to these designs as they are able to meet basic game performance levels while also providing all of aforementioned conveniences. Palit recognizes this potential draw for consumers, and set out to develop some RTX 3060s that are perfect for Mini-ITX builds.
Little card, big power
Measuring in at just 170mm (l) x 125mm (w) x 39mm (h), it’s easy to see that these GPUs are capable of being crammed into small compartments. The coolers feature single fan designs, but at just 170w, it’s feasible for the GA-106 die of the RTX 3060. Considering how the RTX 3060 also uses standard GDDR6 memory (which is less power hungry), it seems to be a great candidate for the Palit Mini-ITX design.
Palit owns multiple brands like Gainward and Galax.
Palit offers two variants of this card, dubbed the StormX and StormX OC, but you can also find a similar design under its Gainward brand. That may be worth looking into if you’re trying to find one of these cards in these difficult times. If you’ve never heard of either of these brands, don’t fret. These are both from the same company that produced the excellent Galax brand during the Pascal GTX 10 Series. Palit has been in the business for decades, too.
If the concept of a Mini-ITX design appeals to you and you want the power of Ampere in your machine, you might give these products a look. You can find more information on them via the company website, but you’ll still have to track one down, which is no small feat. The RTX 3060 is expected to go on sale in late February of 2021. We expect these cards will be available on or slightly after the official launch date.
