Published: February 17, 2025 | Source: ASUS | Author: Tom Logan

ASUS ROG RTX 5090 Astral LC Review

Up Close

Times might change, and we often feel we’re currently on the darkest timeline, but ROG boxes remain a constant. Clear product imagery, bold graphics, it certainly makes an impact.

Being such a chunky monkey – you need to fit a radiator in too – the box for the Astral LC is deep more than wide. We were expecting to find Pandora at the bottom.

The Astral LC is very similar to the design of the RTX 5080 Astral we recently reviewed – link back on page one. However, because the primary cooling is done with the radiator we only get the one fan on the card itself. It’s still very attractive.

You could be forgiven for wondering why this card is so expensive. That is until you pick it up. Both the weight and coldness give away that this is a metal surround, not some rubbish plastic affair. It’s solid.

One of the coolest things about modern fan designs is how they can be interconnected. Those on the RTX 5090 Astral LC are no exception. Look how few cables there are. Exactly. Clever design.

Having seen so many massive, three plus slot, coolers in recent days it makes us chuckle to see how slender the Astral LC is. The benefit of Nvidia’s efforts to reduce the PCB footprint are writ large.

The connector is worthy of extra attention thanks to an amazing innovation ASUS have brought to the party. More on that at the end of this review. For now, just remember that the power connector has a trick up its sleeve.