ASUS TUF OG series: slimmer and shorter RTX 4090
As expected, the TUF Gaming GPU that was supposed to be launched today is not a new NVIDIA SKU, but rather the complete opposite.
Today ASUS has launched two GeForce RTX 4090 graphics cards called TUF OG. This is the announcement that the company made last week offering a free card should anyone guess the name of upcoming GPU. Probably no one expected a refresh of the old TUF design known from RTX 3090 series, but this is precisely what was announced today.
Specs-wise, it looks like both the old to new design are using the same clocks (up to 2595 MHz boost clock in OC Mode). However, physical design has changed. Compared to the newer design, the TUF OG cards are thinner (3.65-slot vs. 3.2-slot), and 2 cm shorter (34.8 cm vs. 32.6 cm).
TUF OG vs. TUF RTX 4090 GPUs, Source: ASUS
TUF OG vs. TUF RTX 4090 GPUs, Source: ASUS
As you can see, the RTX 4090 TUF OG has a much larger PCB compared to the updated 2022 design. The likely reason for this is that RTX 3090 Ti TUF PCB was adopted for the 4090 series, as both GPUs were pin-compatible. A quick check on RTX 3090 Ti TUF/STRIX reviews appears to confirm this, but the PCB is not an exact copy.
Now, this is not the first time ASUS is refreshing its old coolers for new SKUs, but definitely not something that was a common occurrence in the previous GeForce series. It makes us wonder what is the purpose of this refresh of old designs for new cards, but the only thing that comes to mind is to lower the production cost or simply reuse coolers that were already made.
Source: ASUS via @momomo_us
