Asus adds, and then removes, able to detect sagging in its latest ROG Astral GPU
Anyone who has shocked the recent high-end GPUs like the RTX 4090 or 5090 knows that these rendering behemoths are heavy enough to knock down potentially becoming PC thieves. As GPUs grow bigger, sagging has become an increasing focus for PC builders and GPU manufacturers, and Asus briefly introduces the company’s knowledge of the issue.
Asus quietly added a feature called “Device Installation Check” to its GPU Tweak III monitoring software in January. The tool set contains a measurement value called “VGA Horizontal State” which accurately measures the angle of the tilt of the installed GPU. If the GPU tilt exceeds the user-set degree threshold, the user can set a custom warning.
In mid-April, hardware from Taiwanese publication Uniko released the latest ROG Star 50 series cards, highlighting their suspected Bosch Sensortec chips. Bosch describes it as a “universal, low-power IMU that combines precise acceleration and angular rate (gyroscope) measurements with interrupt characteristics triggered by smart chip motion.” Technicians at Uniko hardware believe that this chip is powering the tilt detection tool.
Strangely, the latest mention of the feature on the Asus forums states that as of the latest version of the Tweak III software as of April 11, the device installation check button no longer exists. Users have started reporting what they think is a false positive, and their GPU is still horizontal despite the software saying they are sagging. Engadget contacted ASUS to see if the feature was deprecated or if accurate readings were not reported, but no reply was received.
Whether the feature is a good thing or a fishing game, the risk of sagging GPUs is too real for many PC gamers today. The design of PCIE slots is not the precise design of more than six GPUs today, which has led gamers to find creative solutions to support their huge graphics cards and prevent potential damage.
