Don't miss out on our latest stories. Add PCMag as a preferred source on Google.
Asus has introduced a unique new technology with its new ROG Matrix RTX 5090 graphics card: Level Sense. Built into the Asus GPU Tweak III tool, the card can detect when it is sagging in the socket by a configurable amount (the default appears to be 0.1 degrees), at which point a pop-up warning will notify you that you need to provide better support for your graphics card.
It's a bit gimmicky, but if I'm spending thousands on a graphics card, I'd want to know when something goes wrong.
Outside the svelte watercooled versions, modern, power-hungry GPUs are fitted with ever-larger heatsinks and have become increasingly heavy. In some motherboards without reinforced PCI Express slots, this can lead to GPU "sag," where the card actually droops in the slot. Most people simply end up propping it up with whatever they have on hand, such as LEGO pieces, an action figure, or a bespoke GPU bracket.
Asus' new solution doesn't prevent your GPU from sagging, but it will notify you when it occurs. Assuming you have one of the new Matrix RTX 5090 graphics cards, that is. While Asus doesn't detail exactly how it manages this trick, it probably built an accelerometer into the card itself, so that it knows when its orientation is off. Maybe this isn't a GPU to vertically mount.
Level Sense settings are available in Asus' GPU Tweak III tool, alongside other monitoring systems for temperature, voltages, clock speeds, and fan speeds. There's a calibration tool so you can set the GPU's baseline, and then a threshold value that will throw up the warning once it's been passed. You can set the angle in increments of 0.1 degrees.
This is the first time the technology has been given this name, but as VideoCardz points out, it was first trialed with the ROG Astral edition released earlier this year. The anti-sag mechanic came up in the GPU Tweak III's Equipment Installation Check. It would run a quick sag check when you booted up the software. That ability to detect the GPU droop has now been made a more permanent feature of Asus' top GPUs, it seems, and now has its own name to go with it.
The Matrix RTX 5090 is a 30th anniversary edition of the card to celebrate Asus' birthday, so it's no surprise it pulled out all the stops. Tweaktown reports the card will launch by the end of November, and could cost as much as $4,700.