Many companies like to experiment with new ideas some good, some bad. Back in June ASUS had shown off their concept 4060 Ti Dual graphics card which featured an M.2 SSD Slot on the rear and that concept has today been made official with an announcement from ASUS.
ASUS Dual RTX 4060 Ti SSD
This graphics card is a standard Dual RTX 4060 Ti but features an SSD on the back of the card. The 4060 Ti only uses 8 PCIe lanes leaving the other 8 of the full 16x slot, not really doing much. The inclusion of an SSD effectively takes advantage of these unused PCIe lanes and is the first of its kind. Users can fit M.2 2280 SSDs within this slot even allowing for Gen 5 SSDs if the card is installed into a PCIe 5.0 supporting motherboard, ASUS does note that “it may replace the CPU’s own M.2 slot on the motherboard.”
So what is the benefit of doing this? Well ASUS claims that this design offers a lot more cooling potential as it will be cooled by the dual Axial-tech fans on the graphics card and will be using thermal pads to make use of the large GPU heatsink. Whilst not explicitly mentioned, I can see some strong benefits to this with users in SFF systems.
Features
- Powered by NVIDIA DLSS3, ultra-efficient Ada Lovelace arch, and full ray tracing
- 4th Generation Tensor Cores: Up to 4x performance with DLSS 3 vs. brute-force rendering
- 3rd Generation RT Cores: Up to 2x ray tracing performance
- The built-in M.2 slot boasts PCIe Gen 5 speeds and effectively dissipates heat to the card’s heatsink for cooler temperatures.
- M.2 Q-latch design enables tool-free installation and removal of M.2 SSDs.
- Axial-tech fan design features a smaller fan hub to increase airflow through the cooling array
- A 2.5-slot design maximizes compatibility and cooling efficiency for superior performance in small chassis.
- Dual ball fan bearings can last up to twice as long as sleeve bearing designs
- 0dB technology lets you enjoy light gaming in relative silence
- Protective backplate adds structural rigidity and vents to increase heat reliability
Where Can I Learn More?
This graphics card will be available from various retailers in both a standard and OC variant.
Visit ASUS.com for more information.
