ASUS ProArt RTX 5090 Unveiled: 2.5-Slot Design and Liquid Metal Cooling

ASUS is bringing its signature ProArt design flair to NVIDIA's flagship consumer graphics card with the launch of its ProArt GeForce RTX 5090 OC Edition. The "remarkably compact" card, as ASUS describes it, is the company's first RTX 5090 variant to feature a 2.5-slot design. That's a little thicker than NVIDIA's own 2-slot Founders Edition (FE) model, but it boasts faster specs.

Being a 2.5-slot card, the ProArt version effectively takes up three expansion slots. Still, it's not as thick as some custom models that are out there. It also features a liquid metal thermal compound to battle temps.

"This compact profile is critical for creative professionals who use multiple expansion slots or build small-form-factor PCs. Its innovative cooling solution features liquid metal thermal compound on the GPU die, a vapor chamber, and a double-vented backplate with flow-through zones," ASUS says.

The 2.5-slot card also wields enlarged 115mm axial fans. Combined with the double-flow-through vent design, ASUS says this enhances cooling by 11% in a 27% smaller size compared to single-flow-through models. The upshot, according to ASUS, is sustained performance under heavy loads before throttling kicks in to manage temps.

Like all GeForce RTX 5090 graphics cards, the ProArt model delivers 21,760 CUDA cores and 32GB of GDDR7 memory tied to a wide 512-bit bus. Out of the box, it has a default 2,482MHz base clock, which is a slight overclock over NVIDIA's 2,407MHz reference clock. In OC mode, the ProArt card gooses the clock to 2,512MHz, giving it a 105MHz advantage over reference.

For creators, ASUS also points to a USB-C port to make it easy to connect portable displays or to daisy-chain multiple monitors without extra cables.

There is no mention of pricing for the ASUS ProArt GeForce RTX 5090 OC Edition, though expect it to carry premium and likely be in short supply.