A new fad coming, a vertically mounted GPU, you've heard it here first

[MysticLTT]

Next year, this is going to be all the rage. Marketing departments have figured it out, a well-designed fan side of a GPU looks good on a reviewer's test bench and sells well but goes invisible in a consumer build, so they want us to see all the glory all the time.

 

 

[ARikozuM]

People have been doing this for years... AKA case designers should invest in sample groups. 

[Master Disaster]

15 minutes ago, MysticLTT said:

Next year, this is going to be all the rage. Marketing departments have figured it out, a well-designed fan side of a GPU looks good on a reviewer's test bench and sells well but goes invisible in a consumer build, so they want us to see all the glory all the time.

 

 

Fidget Spinners are a fad, Pokémon cards were a fad, loom bands were a fad.

 

This is something a small group has been doing for years but is mostly unsuitable for the mass market so not a fad.

[Enderman]

Maybe you were not aware, but there have been like a dozen cases released in the past couple years that have vertical GPU mounts.

This isn't anything new.

[Jurrunio]

Just like @ARikozuM and @Enderman said, this is not a new design. Actually, small form factor cases intended to be gaming PCs use soft PCIe extenders to put graphics cards beside motherboards parallel to it for some time now, so it's not even a DIY project of some enthusiasts.

[MysticLTT]

I'm not talking about the DIY projects (which I've never seen), I'm talking mid tower mainstream adoption, with cases sold with built in ability and tech channels flaunting them.

[Enderman]

24 minutes ago, MysticLTT said:

I'm not talking about the DIY projects (which I've never seen), I'm talking mid tower mainstream adoption, with cases sold with built in ability and tech channels flaunting them.

We're not talking about DIY we're talking about actual cases that have been on the market for years.

And yes they've all been reviewed by large youtube channels.

 

It's almost as if you just discovered the PC industry today...

 

 

 

[LinusTech]

I think the OP's point is that the kinds of brands that are doing it and the kind of "volume sku" cases they're doing it on is really different from before. 

[AstroSky]

ayyyyyyeeee its linus

[Master Disaster]

3 minutes ago, LinusTech said:

I think the OP's point is that the kinds of brands that are doing it and the kind of "volume sku" cases they're doing it on is really different from before. 

But haven't these same manufacturers been doing this for years at every convention? It makes sense at a show because you want the public to see your card in its full glory, that doesn't mean they'll start selling these cases for real anytime soon.

[Jurrunio]

1 minute ago, huilun02 said:

GPU mounted like that would block off most other expansion cards from being installed in the free pcie slots. Also the card is literally hanging off its back end.

 

How much praticality would one sacrifice just to be able to look at the cooler? 

Most people only have 1 expansion card: the graphics card. Multi-GPU setup will be problematic though, since even less air flow is possible with graphics cards placed like this than the traditional way.

[suyac]

I don't think that the case makers will force anyone to mount the video card this way, you just have the option to do it so I don t see a problem with it.

For the people who use windowed cases this is a much appreciated option.

 

Also speaking for myself this is the only reason I ll consider switching from a s340 to another windowed case.

[Colonel D]

I've seen this on a few new cases I was looking at, some even have a bracket on the PSU shroud for extra support but I can see a lot of less experienced people trying it and doing damage. Can't remember where but I read about someone trying it as their case supported it and caused a big rise in GPU temps because the fans were so close to the side panel. Seems kind of like a gimmick to me but there are setups that would look great with it mounted vertically

[Zangashtu]

I have a MasterCase 5 and got the vertical mount for my card, couldn't care less that it blocks off my other PCI slots, couldn't care less about the minute temp difference.

It looks sick AF and that's all that matters to me and I imagine IMO a lot of other people will think that too.

[Mick Naughty]

Yea my old case does it. It's also cheap af and poorly made. Also doesn't come with the riser like it says. Prolly wasn't mainstream enough though.