Compact CNC-cut all-metal single-fan GeForce RTX 4070 impresses with its simple design

Last year, we reported on the world's smallest GeForce RTX 4070 with the Zephyr GeForce RTX 4070 ITX Sakura Blizzard graphics card, which instantly sold out in China. With a GPU length of only 172mm and a single fan for cooling, the ITX-ready card was - at the time - an ideal option for small form-factor ITX builds. It's so tiny that it wouldn't be cramped even in a mini-ITX case.

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The new Zephyr GeForce RTX 4070 ITX Sakura Snow X.

Well, Zephyr is back - with another tiny GeForce RTX 4070. The new Zephyr GeForce RTX 4070 ITX Sakura Snow X looks to be an improved version of what we saw last year as it includes a full CNC shroud and casing with the aluminum shell including the I/O bracket as part of the design. Although slightly longer at 178mm with a height of 128mm, the larger 105mm fan and aluminum should deliver better thermal performance.

Zephyr notes that the redesigned RTX 4070 runs up to 6 degrees cooler than its previous single-fan model, which is impressive. Interestingly, the company is sticking with the GeForce RTX 40 Series for this design and not moving to the newer GeForce RTX 5070.

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This isn't a deal breaker; however, with RTX 4070 production reportedly stopped, the assumption is that it will only be available in limited quantities. The RTX 4070 is still an impressive GPU for 1440p gaming, performing similarly to the RTX 3080 in most titles, even at reference specs. The 4399 RMB price point does translate to around $600 USD so it isn't cheap, but then again, current GPU pricing is all over the place.

With the GeForce RTX 5060 and RTX 5060 Ti launches rumored for April and May, hopefully, we see more compact designs like this for NVIDIA's mainstream RTX Blackwell combo.