ASUS ROG RTX 5090 Astral LC Review
Astral LC Power Cable Monitoring
Astral LC Power Cable Monitoring
If you’ve been with us since the start then this is the innovation we were discussing. The 12VHPWR connector has been the subject of much discussion. So much so that it has been redesigned in recent times to eliminate a lot of the problems. ASUS though don’t think that’s enough, and have brought monitoring it to the party.
Clearly when the going gets tough the power cable can draw a LOT of Amps. It’s rated for 650W after all. We’ve got a pair of Cablemod cables we use that have had a very hard life. You might plug your cables in twice or perhaps three times in their lifespan. Ours get used three or four times per card, and we’ve tested dozens of cards. It’s a testament to the incredible Cablemod build quality that they’ve survived so well.
However, once the Amp draw passes 9A then the wear is most likely to cause issues. The ASUS GPU Tweak III software will now point out which pins are the problem. Here can can clearly see which of ours are more worn than the others.
As the card clicks through it’s power demands until it hits the peak, we gain another pin problem. We’re stunned at how useful this feature is. Anything that can save a melted cable will also save your GPU. At this price, we want it saved.
The second of our two cables is newer and thus has been abused less. As you can see the total Amp draw is where the problems occur. At 9.2A we have a red pin, but the image below with it dropped to 9.16A it’s okay again. Think of it like when you go to the dentist and they point out a small hole that will need filling but not today. Above we need to replace it immediately. Below we’ll be okay for a little bit but it would be prudent to get a new one.
