ZOTAC GeForce GT 710 1GB DDR3 PCI Express x1 Video Card ZT-71304-20L

Pros: - PCIe x1 - Low power - Low profile - Passively cooled If you have old or non-existent onboard graphics or need more outputs and have no free PCIe x16 lane for whatever reason, this is one of very few options. Great for tinkerers with weird setups and home servers, and I see a potential niche in HTPCs too. Supports OpenGL4.1 under Linux and has a HDMI port, both of which I can't say for my iGPU.

Cons: - Price - Port selection Even buying it for a specialty use where performance isn't a top concern, it still stings to pay this much for a bottom-end chipset. "Port selection" is a bit of a nit-pick edge case gripe, but the DVI is DVI-D, so when used as a low-profile card you have to have to install the second bracket to get an analog signal. Really minor, but if you use VGA when debugging a little annoying. Displayport would also be nice.

Overall Review: The "push the limit" branding is standard fare for Zotac and the section on the back of the box on affordable gaming isn't unreasonable, but the four bullet points I consider big "pros" and set it aside from other GT710s are almost a footnote, which makes it seem like they're not sure where their niche is. They were running a promo when I bought mine where I got a HDMI to VGA adapter for free with purchase, which helped with the value issue, and helped with the port issue above which came up in the first week. Disclaimer: I got a card in the box from Zotac inviting me to leave a review and link them to it as part of the "ZOTAC experience program", whatever that is.

Pros: Have finally converted all our bulky full tower ATX computers into compact mini-ITX boxes. Reused an existing Phenom II 945 CPU and memory on a new ZOTAC 880G-ITX motherboard. Catch was the motherboard only had a PCI Express x1 expansion slot, and it can be hard to find a video card to use with this slot. This ZOTAC GT 710 PCIe x1 video card has been a great complement to this miniaturized system. The graphics are just fine for general office tasks and streaming videos.

Cons: No cons, because we knew what we were getting: a good video card for a decent price.

Pros: Doesn't take an x16 slot. Silent. Gives a picture with no drivers.

Cons: Probably can't play Crysis, but I put it in a Linux box, so I don't expect it to.

Overall Review: This is a special use card. Don't buy it if you plan to game or get any graphics work done.

Pros: Just about plug and play install, no problems at all.

Cons: I guess the loss of one connector when you use low profile bracket

Overall Review: Great price Easy Linux Mint Install

Pros: I can't believe I found this card. I replaced a 1080p monitor with an older HDTV panel. Intel graphics driver on the basic Celeron/Pentium embedded systems do not handle overscan, so the picture blows out to the edge of the panel. I ended up buying a new board, etc. because my old board only had an x1 slot. This card was the answer that I was seeking. x1 provided plenty of bandwidth to a basic card like this one. I also know it is 100% usable in an x16 slot as I used it to troubleshoot another build. Passive heat sink, instead of a failure-prone buzzy fan. The bracket isn't a shiny chrome but more of a smoked look. Looks subdued and cool with an all-black case I bought.

Cons: Can't think of anything, it wasn't free?

Overall Review: I purchased the x16 version because it was a few bucks cheaper. Needed the same kind of performance in a build that has an x16 slot. For a while I thought about just getting 2 of these x1 because of the flexibility of swapping them into systems with x1 slots. Seems more and more the mini-ITX systems have only x1 slots on them, and I'm into the low-power, lightweight, quiet systems for HTPC. I'd been looking for a PCIE x1 card for years that wasn't some ridiculous old chipset or was very expensive or a tiny amount of memory. This card is the answer.

Pros: Allowed me to use my HDTV as my PC monitor using HDMI for video and audio. VGA also works and allows dual monitors if you want. I didn't use the DVI output. Software and driver CD included with everything you'll need to get started.

Cons: Not much room for the VGA out. I had to bend my PC case just a little to get a proper fit.

Overall Review: If you have an older PC with a PCIe X1 slot, this should work great. My PC is running Windows 7 Pro 64 bit. It has an Intel Core 2 Duo 2.66 CPU and 4GB of DDR2 RAM. This card works great with it.

Pros: reduced my in use pci channels to make room for other things

Cons: none

Pros: Has a single-lane PCI Express connector for those of us who need it. Doesn't require a power supply cable.

Cons: Could be less expensive, but this is a specialty product.

Overall Review: Bought this to free up the shared video memory on an old ITX board without a PCI-E x16 slot. The system is running better but I doubt it will run any hardcore games.