New “Solid Core” graphics cards: Zotac brings RTX 5080 and RTX 5070 Ti to 2.5 slots 22 comments
Image: zotac
ZOTAC is slimming down its Solid Core series from RTX-50 graphics cards and reducing the height of the RTX 5080 and RTX 5070 Ti to less than 3 slots. In addition to the reduced dimensions, Zotac also mentions a “12v2x6 safety light” as an innovation in the Solid Core series, which is supposed to warn of cables that are not properly seated.
2.5-plane high cooler with 3-slot opening
The biggest change compared to the Solid Core series, which was previously the entry-level model in the ZOTAC RTX 50 portfolio, is the smaller cooler. Although the ZOTAC Solid RTX 5080 and ZOTAC Solid RTX 5070 Ti feature a 3.5-slot cooler, this is reduced to 2.5 slots for the Solid Core. The core of the cooler remains a vapor chamber, but the wording on the product pages suggests that the core of the regular Solid series is somewhat larger than that of the Solid models.
The new graphics cards are also slimmer in length and width, making the overall dimensions much more compact. The length is reduced from approximately 330 mm to only approximately 304 mm, while the width drops from approximately 138 mm to approximately 116 mm. The ZOTAC Solid Core series thus qualifies for the NVIDIA “SFF-Pretty-Enthusiast” label.
If you’re considering a graphics card from the new Solid Core series for compatibility reasons, you should be careful: even though the heat sink is much more compact, even with a 2.5-slot height, three full slots will still be occupied on the slot cover. This shouldn’t cause any problems in conventional ATX cases with horizontal assembly, as a 2.5-slot card still blocks three slots, but it can lead to incompatibility, especially for kits designed for vertical assembly or in some ITX cases.
Image balance: ZOTAC SLIMF RTX 5080 (Image: Zotac) ⇔ Zotac Solpi-RTX 5080 (Image: Zotac)
Another innovation is the introduction of the “12V-2×6 safety light.” Behind it is a simple status light on the back of the graphics card, which is supposed to raise an alarm in the event of an unspecified 12V2x6 cable. In addition to the visual warning of a loose or otherwise unreliable connection to the power supply via the red LED, the system should also prevent the boot process in this case and thus force users to check the connection.
Zotac Security Light (BILD: ZOTAC)
New model RRP?
Zotac’s Solid Core series has so far represented the manufacturer’s entry-level graphics accelerator based on the Blackwell architecture and was nominally the UVP model at market launch. Due to the simpler cooler, the Solid Core series could now replace it at the lower end of Zotac’s portfolio and—at least on paper—drive the manufacturer’s new RRP card. However, all RTX 50 graphics cards still have to contend with poor availability and significantly rising market prices. Therefore, don’t expect these graphics cards to be available anytime soon at Nvidia’s UVP of €879 or €1,169 from dealers.
If you’re looking to buy a current GeForce graphics card, you’ll once again be referred to Techastuce’s availability check for RTX 50 graphics cards. A bot constantly monitors numerous German online stores and reports of goods are found in near real-time in the corresponding news and in the associated forum thread. Interested parties can also be informed via the specially designed Telegram channel and the PC Base Discord channels.
Topics: DangaseCase Rentrice RTX 50 Nvidia Graphics Cards Nvidia Blackwell Zota Source: Zotac
An engineer by training, Alexandre shares his knowledge on GPU performance for gaming and creation.
