This year at Computex, graphics card AIBs such as MSI & PNY are showcasing brand new GeForce RTX 4090 GPU cooling solutions that will in fact be used by next-gen designs.
Quad-Slot Coolers Are So Last Year, GPU Makers Showcase 4+ Slot Designs For Next-Gen GeForce RTX 40 Cards, TEC Cooling & More
A common theme seen at Computex 2023 by graphics card AIBs is the use of massive GPU cooling solutions that will be featured on future GeForce RTX 40 GPUs and also a few premium RTX 4090s. MSI, PNY & ACER have revealed their next-gen designs which are simply insane & aim to deliver the best cooling performance to upcoming chips for the gaming segment.
PNY x Cooler Master Is Like ASUS x Noctua But Also Not The Same
Starting with PNY, we have their new collaboration with Cooler Master in the form of the GeForce RTX 4090 VERTO ARGB dual fan. The first thing that comes to mind when you look at this massive monstrosity is the ASUS x Noctua GeForce RTX 40 design. According to PNY, the new graphics card has the entire cooling solution designed by Cooler Master & the PCB underneath is the only thing that is PNY-designed.
The card features two of Cooler Master's latest 120mm fans and the whole unit measures 310 x 142 x 89 mm. This card is a 4.5-slot monster which makes it essentially 5-slot and almost all of the PCIe slots on the motherboard were covered by the graphics card which makes them of no use.
It also comes with a singular 16-pin connector but PNY has yet to decide what clock speeds will this card be rated at. The whole shroud is also a prototype at this point and it comes with a large RGB accent plate on the front. The front of the shroud is a dual brushed metal and matte black finish though this can also change on the final variant.
You can note that the fans on the card are connected to PWM ports which shows its engineering nature. The backside features a large cut-out for the third fan to vent air through. As for the front I/O, the graphics card has a single HDMI and triple display output. PNY also told that they will make a 4090 out of this later this year but this will act as a testing ground for an upcoming & even more powerful GPU by NVIDIA (4090 Ti maybe?).
MSI Showcases Next-Gen Cooling Designs & Techniques For Future GPUs
MSI is also considering some very similar design choices with its next-gen coolers. The company displayed a 4.2-slot GeForce RTX 4090 graphics card which was bigger than its existing GPU, the SUPRIM X. This GPU has no name yet but the prototype cooler is said to be used for a next-gen graphics card. The first prototype had a new Dynamic Bimetallic Fin design that combines aluminum with copper fins which enhances heat dissipation. While the GPU sits underneath the Core pipe, the memory dies will be attached to the copper fins.
There's also the new FusionChill design which basically integrates a hybrid cooling system within the graphics card shroud. This is similar to the Cooler Master developed cooler for the AMD Fury X GP but it does make use of an improved copper base and an advanced radiator which is connected to a large water tank in a singular shroud.
This cooling solution will be at least 4 slots tall and uses a dual-fan cooler. A new DynaVC Vapor Chamber technology is also shown which makes use of a 3D Vapor-Chamber & combines it with foldable heat pipes instead of having the heat pipes integrated separately. This technology is said to help reduce the heat transfer distance and allow a more direct heat transfer to the fluid in the 3DVC cavity.
Lastly, MSI showed a very early prototype unit making use of TEC hybrid cooling. This is said to be the ultimate AIO cooling solution and makes use of a copper cold plate that sits directly on the GPU and VRAM. According to MSI, this is still a very early stage but while the advantages of TEC cooling are there, it will also lead to a significantly higher power draw. A TEC cooler used for the RTX 4090 is going to draw 450W alone so that's 900W for the GPU and the cooling solution combined.
One thing is clear more powerful GPUs are coming and AIBs are aware of that hence they are investing their time in developing bigger coolers with exotic designs and techniques. We can't wait to see these cooling solutions in action on next-gen graphics cards.
