Ever wondered how an NVIDIA Founders Edition graphics card is designed? It goes far beyond the addition of a powerful GPU, requiring engineers and experts skilled in the fields of thermal, mechanical, electrical and product design to come together to collaborate on a perfectly-balanced product.
To lift the shroud on this process, we spoke to some of NVIDIA’s best and brightest, who detailed the art and science behind graphics card design today, with a look towards the possibilities of the future. In the video below, we offer a first glimpse at some of the strides we have made in designing graphics cards, so that they can reach their maximum potential while remaining cool and quiet. They include:
- Thermal: A new, airflow-optimized cooling solution, redesigned to overcome existing constraints and move more air through the system for maximum cooling efficiency
- Mechanical: A stronger mechanical structure, including a new low profile leaf spring that leaves room for a back cover
- Electrical: A compact electrical design, with a new 12-pin power connector that allows more space for components and cooling, and is compatible with existing power supplies via an included adapter
- Product Design: A no-compromise, cohesive design that embraces the revolutionary thermal solution while beautifully harmonizing each element of the graphics card
There has been plenty of speculation as to the reported cooler design of RTX 30 series GPUs, with questions about airflow that make assumptions about the upcoming reference design. The video offers a look at thermal design approaches, and at one point shows the thermal design model featured in the thumbnail (and our featured image above).
But there is nothing left to speculate about with regard to the 12-pin power connector that has garnered so much attention of late. The new design will be accompanied by an adapter to convert a pair of 8-pin PCIe power connectors into a single, compact connector.
