With the latest generations of graphics cards, we’ve seen a pretty noticeable increase in performance. sizeor more specifically in the size of the thermal solution necessary for them to function at a suitable temperature. Now, Cooler Master and PNY have elevated this to almost absurdity, since they have just presented a graphics card that takes up nothing more and nothing less than 4.5 slots wide, almost 9 centimeters. At this rate we will need a vessel to accommodate our hardware…
The change in size of modern graphics cards is understandable: consumption has increased at the same rate as power, and that means more heat generation and therefore the need for higher capacity thermal solutions. heat dissipation. The problem is that it seems that all manufacturers are pulling “down the middle street”, or in other words, they are increasing the size instead of making their heatsinks more efficient.
A graph of 4.5 slots: big donkey, walk or not walk
This is a popular saying that is used to criticize people who choose something based on its size without taking into account if what they have chosen is better or worse. But it also helps us to define the situation in which the graphics card market is at the moment, since as we have mentioned, all manufacturers without exception are solving the problems of greater GPU heat generation with larger heatsinks. , no more no less.
The clearest example we have in the last occurrence of Cooler Master and PNY, who have shown at Computex their new RTX 4090 graphics card model (it’s not even a Ti model) that occupies 4.5 slots, a true monster of practically 9 centimeters thick. You can see in the images attached to this article that even an ATX format motherboard is almost ridiculous compared to the size of this graphics card.
This isn’t really the longest graphics card on the market at “only” 12 inches, and yet its 3.5-inch thickness makes it even thicker than ASUS and Noctua’s massive model, the RTX 4080. which measured 310 × 144.8 × 87.5 mm. Both graphics cards incorporate 120mm fans, the same as those frequently used in PC cases, something that guarantees good cooling but… at what price?
What is certain is that we are increasingly seeing larger and heavier graphics cards, testing both the capacity of PC cases and the resistance of retention systems, since the manufacturers themselves have been forced to adopt solutions to avoid problems, such as holding brackets that anchor the graphics to the screws of the motherboard to prevent them from bending due to the weight… you only have to compare the size of a current graphics card with one of a previous generation to realize it (for example, below you can see an RTX 4080 compared to a RTX 3080).
Really, instead of going for the simplest solution that is to increase the size of the graphics card, manufacturers should focus their efforts on designing more efficient cooling systems… options are available, and we have seen very good improvements in chambered heatsinks steam, for example, which are not being implemented.
