Asus Details ROG Matrix GeForce RTX 4090: Liquid Cooling Meets Liquid Metal
by Anton Shilov on May 30, 2023 7:00 PM EST- Posted in
- GPUs
- Asus
- ROG
- NVIDIA
- Liquid Cooling
- Ada Lovelace
- Computex 2023
- ROG Matrix
- AD102
Asus has introduced a new flagship RTX 4090 graphics card that uses an all-in-one liquid cooling system combined with liquid metal thermal interface. Dubbed the ROG Matrix GeForce RTX 4090, Asus says that its advanced cooler combined with extremely efficient thermal interface will ensure the maximum boost clocks possible, with Asus taking clear aim of producing the fastest gaming graphics card on the market.
Proper power delivery and efficient cooling are main ways to enable consistently high CPU and GPU performance these days, so when designing its ROG Matrix GeForce RTX 4090, the company used its own proprietary printed circuit board (PCB) with an advanced voltage regulating module (VRM). Meanwhile cooling is being provided by an all-in-one liquid cooling system that removes heat not only from GPU, but also from memory and VRM, exhausting that heat via the attached "extra-thick" 360mm radiator.
But Asus says that its ROG Matrix GeForce RTX 4090 has a secret ingredient that its rivals lack: liquid metal thermal interface material (TIM) that ensures superior heat transfer from hot components to cooling systems.
Asus does not disclose what type of liquid metal TIM it uses for graphics cards (it uses ThermalGrizzly's Conductonaut Extreme for some laptops), bus usually such thermal interfaces are made from gallium or gallium alloys, which are liquid at or near room temperature and are great conductors of heat.
But there are also some risks and challenges associated with using liquid metal thermal interfaces. Firstly, they are electrically conductive, which means that if the material spills or is not properly contained, it could cause a short circuit. Secondly, these materials can be corrosive to certain metals like aluminum. Thirdly, applying liquid metal can be more complicated than using other types of thermal paste, requiring careful handling and precision.
Asus says that it has been using liquid metal TIMs in its laptops for years, so using them for graphics cards does not seem to be a big challenge for the company.
Image Credit: Future/TechRadar
Asus is not disclosing the complete specifications of the ROG Matrix GeForce RTX 4090 for the moment, but it certainly hopes to make the graphics card the world's fastest. It remains to be seen whether the product will indeed be the fastest out-of-box, but it will certainly offer a noteworthy overclocking potential when compared to regular GeForce RTX 4090 graphics boards with regular coolers.
The Asus ROG Matrix GeForce RTX 4090 will be a limited-edition card available for sale in Q3.
Source: Asus
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PeachNCream - Wednesday, May 31, 2023 - link
I would imagine the price will be somewhere between "incredibly stupid" and "complete lunacy" given the need for OEMs like Asus to squeeze niche/halo dollars out of what few people are willing to buy one of these since there isn't much otherwise to differentiate any 4090 from any other 4090 besides gimmicky cooling solutions. NV has a tight grip on regulating what can be done with their GPUs after all. That's a huge problem for OEMs because one of the factors that drives sales is being able to put unique looking checkbox features on your marketing materials in order to draw in buyers and widen margins. Standardization in the PC industry has forced companies to go for things like plastic cladding, aggressive car or animal logos, and paying someone for name use rights (d8whatever and fata1ity or somesuch for instance) so this liquid metal cooling thing should significantly help even if it will likely yield low single-digit performance differences in practice. Someone, somewhere will believe in the magic pixie dust and pull out the credit card for one.PreacherEddie - Thursday, June 1, 2023 - link
Melting credit card is the liquid metal TIM. You have revealed their trade secret!curto22 - Thursday, June 1, 2023 - link
PS5 uses liquid metal cooling on the CPU, I think graphics card's should adapt liquid metal cooling. Because a typical PC graphics card is a lot LOUDER then a PS5. That being said I'm not going to pay an arm and a leg more.. Ps5 is incredibly cheap for what you receive compared to buying a pc with the same performance.Oxford Guy - Friday, June 2, 2023 - link
Apple used liquid metal TIM for its quad G5 tower system. I don't know if that was the first consumer computer to use it or not.Oxford Guy - Friday, June 2, 2023 - link
'But there are also some risks and challenges associated with using liquid metal thermal interfaces. Firstly, they are electrically conductive, which means that if the material spills or is not properly contained, it could cause a short circuit. Secondly, these materials can be corrosive to certain metals like aluminum. Thirdly, applying liquid metal can be more complicated than using other types of thermal paste, requiring careful handling and precision.'You forgot the biggest problem: Reacts with other metals, like the copper alloys, which has a variety of negative effects.
I used Coollaboratory Liquid Metal (the original, no the Ultra) more than once and it never remained liquid. It was fused the lapped CPUs to the heatsink base, too.
And, in terms of 'more complicated' and 'careful handling and precision' — it doesn't help that the syringe Coollaboratory used literally caused the stuff to shoot half a meter. There was no precision and care involved. Either one got nothing out of the syringe or it shot wildly.
People had to resort (myself included) to letting it shoot onto a bin bag in order to prevent it from destroying motherboards. Shoot onto the bin bag then move enough of it to the spreader.
The way it dried up/reacted/fused was the deal-breaker.
BSteezy - Monday, July 17, 2023 - link
I’d rather they offered just the water-cooled card, with standard fittings. If I’m going to do something high end, I’m not going to half-ass it with an AIO. I’m going to put it into a custom loop water-cooled system. I’m going to want to choose my own radiator that fits best with my setup and design, have hard tubing bent to a clean design, etc. instead, they’ve made an enthusiast level product, with an enthusiast-level price to match I’m sure, but in a format designed for beginners making their first tentative steps away from air cooling. A card designed for custom loops would still benefit from the liquid metal interface. Hopefully they will offer this alongside the AIO, for folks not interested in training wheels. If ever there was a card that begs for water cooling, even if just to do away with the bulk of the air cooling, it’s the 4090. It would be nice to not have to buy a card with all that attached waste, just to throw it out and replace it with an EK water block. Having an expertly done thermal interface out of the box would be a big plus.