An ASUS ROG MATRIX GeForce RTX 4090 overclocked by Splave became the first graphics card to break the 4 GHz GPU clock barrier. The card was overclocked to a blistering 4005 MHz GPU clock while leaving the memory untouched at 21 Gbps. The card was GPU Pi stable, and went on to set the single GPU record of 45.402 seconds. The ROG MATRIX was cooled using a liquid nitrogen evaporator, while the Core i9-13900K powering the rig was on AIO liquid CPU cooling. The CPU was left at stock frequency, and the memory ticked at vanilla DDR5-4800. The HWBOT validation of the feat can be accessed here.

Here's the first picture of the bare PCB of the upcoming ASUS ROG MATRIX GeForce RTX 4090 graphics card, courtesy of der8auer, who was given access to the card as part of a G.Skill overclocking event. We spotted a fully assembled version of this card on the Computex floor earlier. The PCB is essentially of the same design as the ROG Strix RTX 4090, but with some major changes. The card draws power from a single 16-pin 12VHPWR connector, and we're hearing that the card's power limits will be the highest ever allowed by NVIDIA for any custom RTX 4090, perhaps even getting close to the 600 W continuous design limit of the connector.

The card features a 24-phase VRM for the GPU power phases, and a 4-phase VRM for the 24 GB of GDDR6X memory across a 384-bit memory interface. We cannot make out the exact DrMOS components for this VRM, but der8auer says these are 70 A-rated MPS-sourced DrMOS (the ROG Strix uses 70 A DrMOS sourced from OnSemi). Although one can't tell just by looking, ASUS says that it has deployed a network of SMD thermal sensors across the critical areas of the card, such as individual rows of memory chips, or DrMOS. This is essentially ASUS's inspiration of the late EVGA iCX. There is a physical dual-BIOS switch, some consolidated voltage measurement points, and some fan and lighting headers, but that's about it.

ASUS at the 2023 Computex launched the ROG MATRIX GeForce RTX 4090, its absolute top-end custom-design graphics card, designed to be the fastest money can buy. The card features the industry's highest factory-overclock for an RTX 4090, and has its power limits set squarely at 600 W, maxing out the single 16-pin 12VHPWR connector. The card also features the strongest VRM solution ever by ASUS for a graphics card, to hold this PL. The star attraction with this card is that it is marketed as the first graphics card that incorporates liquid metal technology.

What it essentially means, is that the cooling solution uses liquid-metal thermal interface material (TIM) for the GPU. The enthusiasts among you know how difficult it is to apply and maintain liquid metal, and ASUS is among the first companies to do this on an industrial scale, using a fully automated process. The company originally designed this mechanized liquid-metal TIM application technique for its high-end notebooks, but figured it could use it even for graphics cards. Liquid-metal TIMs offer the highest possible thermal conductivity as the TIM is pure metal. It's also electrically conductive, which is why application and maintenance is extremely difficult. ASUS innovated a cold-plate design specifically for this task, so the graphics card could survive international shipping from its factories. A third innovation by ASUS has been to develop a special multi-layer resin that protects the SMD components on the PCB against being shorted by the liquid-metal. ASUS is so confident in its liquid-metal technology, that the company is backing this graphics card with a comprehensive 5-year warranty.

We live in strange times, with GALAX releasing HOF Black Edition graphics cards, and now ASUS dishing out an ROG Strix White Edition. Unlike GALAX, ASUS limited its whitewash to the cooler shroud, the fan impellers, the back-plate, and even the various internal cables (fans, lighting, etc.,) while leaving the PCB black. The cooler shroud has RGB LED embellishments at the same spots as the original ROG Strix RTX 2080 Ti, so you can play with color.

The card ships with 1770 MHz GPU Boost frequency, and an untouched 14 Gbps (GDDR6-effective) memory. The GPU Boost frequency in particular is significantly higher than the 1650 MHz of the ROG Strix RTX 2080 Ti O11G, and closer to the 1800 MHz that the ROG MATRIX RTX 2080 Ti ships with. The ROG Strix RTX 2080 Ti White Edition is priced at 1,600€ (including taxes).

ASUS is looking to one-up the competition in the flagship graphics card market with its ROG MATRIX rendition of the RTX 2080 Ti interpretatioin of NVIDIA's silicon. The ROG MATRIX GeForce RTX 2080 Ti will incorporate an AIO watercooling solution complete with waterblock, pump, radiator and fans in a triple-slot design. ASUS claims the Infinity Loop cooler will bring about performance equivalent of that of an external 240mm AIO - a bold claim, since physics and proximity of the radiator and fans themselves to the PCB and die should dictate a higher temperature than an otherwise completely external solution.

That said, the design of the Infinity Loop is likely one of the most interesting graphics card cooling designs in some time, with a completely self-contained solution. The shroud and side of the graphics card feature laser cutouts and LED-illuminated elements (because 2019 wouldn't be much different from 2018 in that regard). Out-of-the-box clocks are set at 1815 MHz before any additional overclocking, and the card takes power from 2x 8-pin power connectors. The cost? North of $1600. Now that's design, even in the price-tag.