In context: Over the previous few years, brackets to help massive graphics playing cards have joined the rising listing of elements that customized PC builders would possibly store for. As high-end GPUs and their cooling options proceed to develop bigger, strategies to detect and forestall sagging have gotten more and more subtle.
Asus graphics card homeowners just lately found that the corporate has quietly launched software program able to detecting GPU droop. An investigation into the function’s workings uncovered new {hardware} devoted to person security.
Asus’ GPU Tweak monitoring software program seemingly obtained a brand new perform known as “Gear Set up Verify” across the time Nvidia launched its RTX 50 sequence graphics playing cards in January. Clicking it on the proper facet of the window produces a exact calculation of the graphics card’s horizontal angle, with a warning if it drops too low.
The function helps customers detect GPU sag, often known as GPU droop, which has grow to be a rising concern. As extra graphics playing cards make use of monumental coolers, gravity can slowly pull them downward over time, doubtlessly damaging the PCIe connection. In 2023, Gigabyte customers began complaining that their PCBs have been cracking as a consequence of sag.
After investigating Asus’ monitoring app, Uniko’s {Hardware} found that the ROG Astral RTX 5090 features a Bosch BMI323 IMU, which makes use of a gyroscopic accelerometer to measure the GPU’s angle. Whereas novel, the answer is not fully uncalled for. The cardboard weighs 6.6 kilos, so prospects who can afford its $3,300 price ticket can probably afford an additional little bit of warning.
Whereas novel, the answer is just not fully uncalled for. The cardboard weighs 6.6 kilos, so prospects who can afford its $3,300 price ticket can probably afford an additional little bit of warning.
GPU brackets or braces, which usually screw into an adjoining enlargement slot beneath the graphics card (and infrequently embrace RGB lighting, in fact), are pretty commonplace these days. Like many different high-end GPUs, the Asus Astral RTX 5090 ships with one. Nevertheless, producers have additionally devised different distinctive options.
In 2022, vendor 51RISC launched an RTX 4090 that includes two spirit ranges on its uncovered facet. EVGA’s 3090 Ti additionally got here with a free leash that attaches to the chassis roof to stabilize the GPU.
Graphics playing cards have grown in dimension primarily as a result of, as the consequences of Moore’s Legislation decelerate, reaching significant efficiency uplifts requires extra wattage, extra warmth, and bigger cooling apparatuses. Though the facility draw of Asus’s ROG Astral RTX 5090 is barely decrease than that of the corporate’s TUF 4090, the newer GPU expands from three to 4 slots and weighs virtually twice as a lot.
