Zotac Geforce RTX 3090 Ti PGF OC

Air coolers for graphics cards have become increasingly sophisticated: The Zotac Geforce RTX 3090 Ti PGF OC now fills all four slots and takes up five of an ATX system's seven expansion slots. This begs the question of what the trend will look like, as well as if and how to oppose it.

To keep the 450 watts under control, the card takes up four slots - no 3.5 or 3.7. In theory, the experienced screwdriver blocks five of an ATX system's seven expansion slots.

Given reports that the next generation of graphics cards will not be cost-effective, enthusiasts will have to adapt to progressively massive air coolers or rely on alternatives such as water cooling.

The Geforce RTX 3090 Ti PGF OC, which can output about 500 watts of power in the form of frames and heat, does not fit into a tiny case. In addition to the four slots, it has a height of 7.3 centimeters, which means it already towers over larger cards like the AMP, which has 3.5 slots and a height of 6.5 centimeters. The length of the AMP is 5 cm longer.

At the very least, the card sparks an interesting debate about what the trends in the graphics accelerator market are and how to respond to them are.

Would it have been more logical if the ATX consortium had discovered another way to integrate graphics cards into the system in addition to the new connectors for up to 600 watts? Yes, significant conversions are always fraught with complications.

However, if the trend toward cards with three to four slots continues, the system's adaptability will be limited.

Creating a separate PEG (PCI Express for Graphics) under new requirements could be a solution, as well as addressing the issue of cards sagging without additional support structures due to the heavy cooler. Smaller cases, in particular, already use riser wires to adjust the position of the graphics card.