Final thoughts and rating
NVIDIA partner KFA2 has been the first to launch a single-slot-cooled GeForce GTX 460 1GB card in Europe, following the lead of its parent company, Galaxy, in the US.
Designing a single-slot cooler for a card rated at 160W is no mean feat, and it's impressive that KFA2's Razor has achieved it without tampering with the default frequencies. Based around a custom PCB and cooler, the stretched-out card - some 10.5in in length - makes sense for users who don't want to block-off motherboard expansion slots yet still require a meaty mid-range graphics card.
However, the need for a svelte profile leads to the use of a fan which is rather too loud for our liking. The under-load noise level approaches that of a GeForce GTX 480 and the matching PCB length means that it may be unsuitable for small-form-factor chassis where a single-slot card would tick all the right boxes. Readers looking to use a couple of cards in SLI will also be disappointed to learn that the PCB is bereft of the connector, degrading potential performance.
We applaud KFA2 for ripping up the GeForce GTX 460 1GB rule book by bringing a single-slot-cooled card to market, though a little more care's required with the cooling, PCB design, and outputs.
Bottom line: the Razor is a genuinely innovative GTX 460 1GB card, retailing at £160, whose Achilles heel is a rather loud fan.
The Good
Single-slot form factor for the excellent GTX 460 1GB
No diminution in frequencies; performs well
Good power-draw figures
The Bad
Loud fanLong PCB may cause problems in small chassis
HDMI output would have been better
No SLI finger for proper multi-GPU usage
HEXUS Rating
KFA2 GeForce GTX 460 1GB Razor
HEXUS Awards
KFA2 GeForce GTX 460 1GB Razor
HEXUS Where2Buy
TBC.
HEXUS Right2Reply
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