Event Coverage

ASUS unveils details on the tech behind its custom graphics cards

By Koh Wanzi - 27 Jul 2015

ASUS unveils details on the tech behind its custom graphics cards

ASUS has released details on the technology behind its graphics cards at a technical seminar in Bangkok, Thailand.

When it comes to shopping for a new graphics card – or PC hardware in general – the average buyer is often inundated by a flood of marketing jargon that can be difficult to make sense of. Torx fans? Triangle Cool technology? SuperAlloy Power II? What does it all mean?

Buyers can hardly be blamed for wondering if all this jargon actually counts for something. At the ASUS Technical Seminar 2015 in Bangkok, Thailand, ASUS stripped away the fluff and provided us with a look into the design and engineering decisions behind its custom graphics cards.

There was also news of new graphics card releases. According to the timeline below, consumers can expect three new editions of the GeForce GTX 980 Ti in the three-month period spanning August to October. The ROG Poiseidon GTX 980 Ti will debut sometime in August, followed by the Matrix and 20th Anniversary Gold Edition in early September and October respectively.

We can expect three more variants of the GeForce GTX 980 Ti from ASUS in the next three months.

DirectCU III cooler

For starters, ASUS’ new DirectCU III cooler puts the GPU die in more direct contact with the heatsink itself. According to ASUS, there is only a single layer of thermal grease separating the heatsink from the GPU, which results in more efficient heat transfer and dissipation. In comparison, other less efficient designs interpose more layers between the GPU and heatsink in the form of a copper plate and solder paste.

The DirectCU III cooler puts the GPU in more direct contact with the heatsink. (Image Source: ASUS)

If you own a DirectCU III GPU, you’ve probably seen ASUS boasting about its dual thick 10mm heatpipes on the card’s packaging. As it turns out, there’s a reason for using thicker heatpipes – they enable improved heat dissipation over thinner ones.

But in addition to the dual 10mm heatpipes, the DirectCU III cooler actually uses an additional 8mm heatpipe and two more secondary 6mm heatpipes. The dual 10mm and single 8mm heatpipes are in direct contact with the GPU itself and are responsible for getting rid of 70% of the GPU’s heat output, while the remaining 30% is handled by the secondary heatpipes.

A combination of two 10mm-thick heatpipes and one 8mm heatpipe channel around 70% of the heat away from the GPU. (Image Source: ASUS)

Finally, the DirectCU heatpipes themselves are designed to enable both high capillarity and permeability. It combines the advantages of sintered powder and groove heatpipes in order to increase heat transfer efficiency, and a look at the cross section reveals a design that looks like a hybrid between both types of heatpipes. 

The DirectCU heatpipes have been designed to have both high capillarity and permeability. (Image Source: ASUS)

Fan design

The ASUS Wing-blade fan apparently draws inspiration from the wing design of the US Air Force A-10 attack jet, hence its name. Instead of a tapered fan edge, ASUS has gone with a blunt edge design that increases air pressure and helps drive more air through the heatsink.

The blunt edge of the wing-blade fan design is modeled after the wing design of the US Air Force A-10 attack jet. (Image Source: ASUS)

Furthermore, ASUS has intentionally designed its fan blades to be wide, with smaller gaps between the blades. The larger fan blade area and smaller gap area supposedly helps increase air flow and pressure.

ASUS has intentionally designed its cooling fans to have wide blades and smaller gaps between blades. (Image Source: ASUS)

Strix armor

The red GPU fortifying brace that we noticed in our recent reviews of ASUS’ Strix cards also serves a functional purpose. It seems that strain relief could still be improved even with a metal backplate in place, and the GPU Fortifier helps to relieve pressure on all four corners of the GPU die and prevent flexing across the entire PCB.

The GPU Fortifier provides additional reinforcement to the structural integrity of the PCB. (Image Source: ASUS)

Improved power efficiency, reduced choke whine

According to ASUS, its Super Alloy Power II (it's not just a fancy name) components help improve power efficiency by reducing power loss in the MOS driver and high-side and low-side MOS, where up to 80% of power loss occurs.

Image Source: ASUS

It has identified three common sources for power loss, namely, conduction loss, switching loss, and dead time loss.

Image Source: ASUS

By using a flip-chip design instead of wire bond, ASUS effectively reduces the gate resistance and helps reduce switching loss, which occurs when the MOS transitions between “off” and “on” states. As its name suggests, the chip has been flipped such that its top faces down and interfaces with the circuit via solder dots.

The use of a flip-chip design helps reduce switching loss. (Image Source: ASUS)

On the other hand, dead time loss is reduced by utilizing multiple drivers so each cell MOS gets its own driver.

Each cell MOS gets its own driver to reduce power loss from dead time loss. (Image Source: ASUS)

Finally, the Super Alloy II components help minimize choke whine by using extra-fine alloy particles to keep acoustics down. Choke whine occurs as a result of fluctuations in the GPU’s current, and the finer alloy particles help keep these to a minimum.

The finer alloy particles in Super Alloy Power II chokes help reduce choke whine. (Image Source: ASUS)

Fully automated assembly

On top of all that, ASUS also talked about its Auto-Extreme technology, which completely automates the GPU manufacturing process and eliminates human fallibility from production. ASUS says that this helps to ensure more uniform standards of quality and allows its cards to be produced to more exacting standards.

Furthermore, it removes flux – a chemical cleaning agent – from the manufacturing process, which actually helps to reduce dust buildup between components and thus prolong longevity.

ASUS aims to remove human fallibility and reduce the probability of human error with a completely automated GPU manufacturing process. (Image Source: ASUS)

Many of these features can be found on a recent slew of Strix-branded cards from ASUS like the ASUS Strix Radeon R7 370 and R9 380 and the Strix Radeon R9 Fury. For a look at how these features hold up in practice, you can refer to our reviews of the aforementioned cards, or to our GeForce GTX 980 Ti shootout, which features the ASUS Strix GeForce GTX 980 Ti. 

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