AMD hasn't given us much information about the upcoming Radeon RX 9070 and 9070 XT this CES 2025, but that hasn't stopped Asus from giving us a peek at its own versions of the new graphics cards. The company has just announced its TUF Gaming OC and Prime OC versions of the next-gen AMD cards and probably the biggest change is how they approach cooling.
Instead of thermal paste on top of the GPU die, the TUF Gaming Radeon RX 9070 (XT and non-XT) OC and Prime Radeon RX 9070 (XT and non-XT) OC graphics cards will all feature a "phase-change thermal pad" that Asus says is "designed to give you reliable performance over the long term".
Asus explains: "The electrically non-conductive pad is a solid at room temperature but liquefies as it heats up. As it melts, it fills the microscopic gaps between the GPU and thermal module, providing superior thermal conductivity and enhanced heat dissipation, ensuring optimal performance, even for sustained, heavy GPU workloads.
"Additionally, the phase-change thermal pads offer exceptional longevity. They outlast traditional pastes by a significant margin, even for graphics cards that see heavy workloads on a regular basis. We can’t say that you’ll never want to repaste one of these graphics cards, but we are confident that it’ll be a long time before you even consider it."
The main reason to opt for a phase-change thermal pad instead of standard thermal paste, as Asus suggests, is because it can offer more longevity. This is because phase-change paste returns to a solid state at room temp, and this should prevent "pump out" in the long-term, which is when thermal paste squeezes away from the die centre over time, leading to increasing temperatures.
Our Nick uses a phase-change pad on his RTX 4080 Super for just that reason. You can see a picture of this below. The material being used to keep the thermals in check is Honeywell PTM7950, which has been shown to perform incredibly well.
The use of such thermal pads isn't completely new. XFX has used them for its Magnetic Air GPU models, for instance, such as on its Quicksilver AMD Radeon RX 7900GRE Magnetic Air.
It's new for Asus's TUF and Prime line-ups, though. And I do like how fitting it will be to have resilient thermal pads in the "TUF" cards. These cards, Asus reminds us, are armoured "in a metal exoskeleton for structural rigidity", have dual-ball fan bearings that "keep the fans spinning up to twice as long as conventional designs", and have "military-grade components for rock-solid power delivery and a long lifespan."
The Asus RX 9070 graphics cards themselves will feature 16 GB of VRAM and dual BIOS functionality to choose between a quieter or more performant mode. The Prime models "pack a triple-fan cooling solution into a compact 2.5-slot design".
I can't help but find it a little funny that 2.5-slot designs are now deemed "compact". But that's the world we live in now, I suppose: one of giant, powerful graphics cards. And given more power tends to mean more heat, I suppose this should make us extra grateful that manufacturers are looking to increase longevity by trying out new ways of keeping things cool.
Let's not get carried away with the "powerful" train of thought, though. Although we don't know for sure, it looks like these RDNA 4 GPUs might rival the RTX 4070 Ti—which is great, but nothing like the power that Nvidia's claiming of its latest high-end 50-series graphics cards. We'll have to wait and see.
