The world of graphics playing cards can generally seem like a bit ‘me too’. Including a splash of RGB, a manufacturing facility overclock or a cool shroud are a number of methods to distinguish a card from the pack, however including an M.2 SSD slot is one thing else. Asus has accomplished precisely that. Its new Twin GeForce RTX 4060 Ti incorporates a PCIe M.2 slot constructed proper into the graphics card itself.
Although the cardboard has been demonstrated earlier than, it is now exhibiting up at a handful of European primarily based retailers (by way of @momomo_us). As anticipated, the SSD slot outfitted mannequin comes with a markup in comparison with the common Twin RTX 4060 Ti 8GB. The Multitronic itemizing exhibits a value of €559, in comparison with €470 for the non-SSD outfitted Twin RTX 4060 Ti. Although there is no doubt this answer introduces some complexity justifying a value premium, that is an enormous markup.
The itemizing at Multitronic even contains some advertising and marketing data, which features a line stating the slot is “able to PCIe 5.0 speeds”. The RTX 4060 Ti solely helps PCIe 4.0 although, so take that line with a grain of salt. The slot additionally contains Asus’ Q-Latch mechanism for straightforward set up.
On the GPU aspect of issues, the RTX 4060 Ti is a well-known amount at this level. It does not blow us away with its efficiency and specs, however it’s a energy thrifty and succesful mid-range possibility, and it is capable of make use of Nvidia’s applied sciences, together with DLSS 3 and body technology.
Including an M.2 slot to a graphics card may appear to be the reply to a query no person requested, nevertheless it’s really a really attention-grabbing answer, for a number of causes.
Firstly, the RTX 4060 Ti solely makes use of a PCIe x8 interface, so including an M.2 slot is a intelligent manner so as to add an SSD and reap the benefits of PCIe lanes that will in any other case be misplaced when utilizing an x8 card in an x16 slot.
The second cause is cooling. Having an SSD positioned atop the graphics card ought to ship good cooling potential, because the drive will sit proper within the path of entrance to again case airflow. That should not make an enormous distinction for motherboards with major M.2 slots positioned above the graphics card, however motherboards with slots positioned beneath the graphics card are inclined to obtain poor airflow, and might really perform extra like warmth absorbers on account of warmth coming off of the GPU when gaming.
The SSD slot appears prefer it’ll be simple to entry. SSDs generally is a actual ache to put in, particularly people who require the removing of the graphics card. These tiny fiddly screws are a bane of the PC constructing expertise, and any technique to make SSD set up simpler is a welcome one in my e book.
After all, with out testing the efficiency and cooling capabilities of an SSD mounted this fashion, we won’t know for certain how this answer will carry out, however I believe it is a very attention-grabbing implementation. If it really works in follow, it could possibly be the primary of many graphics playing cards to introduce this intriguing answer.
