TAIPEI—Asus’ periodic Matrix editions of its highest-end video playing cards are uncommon birds. The final one confirmed its PCB face throughout the GeForce RTX 20 collection days, and the corporate has maintained one thing of a mystique and a limited-edition ethos round them. After all, these being elite-grade playing cards with a restricted clientele, they’re extra aspirational merchandise than sensible for many consumers. You admire the Ferrari, however you purchase the Ford.
In the event you don’t take into account your self “most consumers,” although, then it is time to get a bit impractical…and get your pockets prepared for some damage. Asus teased, simply earlier than the official opening of Computex 2023, a Matrix version of the Nvidia flagship GeForce RTX 4090 GPU, dubbed the ROG Matrix GeForce RTX 4090.
Asus didn’t announce pricing on the outset, and the assembled press had only a few minutes to ogle and shoot the cardboard throughout a visit to Asus headquarters in Taipei. So let’s get all the way down to a few of these pix…
The Matrix is a liquid-cooled RTX 4090 card with the excellence of utilizing liquid steel on the GPU die. As Asus reps defined, utilizing liquid steel on a element that could be oriented and utilized in certainly one of a number of completely different instructions, relying on the set up, presents one thing of a problem. (It’s protected to imagine, in distinction, {that a} laptop computer using liquid steel will predictably be used at full tilt solely when it’s roughly parallel to a desk.) Liquid steel must be “dammed” in place to maintain it from flowing out when heated (clearly a nasty factor).
Because of this, Asus needed to implement a particular adhesive barrier, seen above and beneath in these PCB pictures, across the GPU maintain the steel contained when it is in a stream state. In any case, a PC may need the cardboard put in vertically, horizontally, and even up on finish. The final will not be unusual in sure small-form-factor circumstances.
This Matrix card is paired with a triple-fan radiator utilizing three 120mm followers, and the product comes pre-assembled and pre-filled, in the identical vein as an all-in-one liquid cooler you’d purchase for a CPU. It is tethered through the liquid hoses to the two.5-slot-wide video card.
The pump mechanism is mounted together with the PCB contained in the outer rim of the cardboard, a sturdy steel encompass that makes the cardboard appear like artwork suspended within the body.
The cardboard, based on reps, ought to hit an influence restrict at 600 watts. It also needs to have the best GPU increase clock out there in an RTX 4090, a declare that Asus reps say they’ve verified with Nvidia. The liquid steel on the GPU, in addition to a big copper chilly plate, assist contribute to getting this card out to the furthest efficiency reaches.
The followers on the radiator are daisy-chainable and magnetic. Asus Aura Sync will deal with the lighting tweaks, although we didn’t get to see something however the inventory blue on the radiator followers in our temporary time with the Matrix. Show-output connectors on the port airplane comprise three DisplayPorts and two HDMIs, another than typical.
The cardboard is 28cm lengthy, although Asus advises 35mm of clearance to permit for a correct light arc/bend for the liquid cooler hoses. We’ll replace this piece with pricing and availability as quickly as we’re capable of pin some down. Within the meantime…admire the view.
