. The TUF GAMING Radeon RX 6900 XT is a tenacious beast with a tough metal exterior super-efficient cooling & components that offer enhanced endurance. An all-metal shroud houses three powerful axial-tech fans with dual ball fan bearings & extra blades. Under the exoskeleton a thick heatsink keeps thermals under tight control & TUF components selected for maximum durability & performance keep the card ahead of the pack. You asked for a mean machine this one is ready for action Key Product Info. Axial-tech fan design has been enhanced with more fan blades & a rotation scheme Dual ball fan bearings can last up to twice as long as sleeve bearing designs All-aluminum shroud reinforced frame & metal backplate enhance durability Max Contact heat spreader features a super flat surface for enhanced thermal transfer 144-hour validation program puts cards through a series of stringent tests to ensure compatibility with the latest games Vented backplate prevents hot air from recirculating through the cooling array GPU Tweak II provides intuitive performance tweaking thermal controls & system monitoring Product Features Bigger better cooling This generation the Axial-tech fan design has matured with an increased blade count on all three fans 13 on the center fan & 11 on the auxiliary fans. The barrier rings on the side fans have been slimmed down to allow for more lateral intake & to provide better airflow through the cooling array. The center fan's extra blades & full-height ring provide boosted static pressure to blast air directly onto the GPU heat spreader. The fan design growth is specifically optimized for a massive new heatsink that features more fins & surface area than previous iterations. Quiet cunning To bolster the specialized roles of the center & auxiliary fans the rotational direction of the center fan is reversed. This reduces air turbulence inside the cooling array for another boost to overall thermal performance. Fans will also only start spinning when the GPU temperature hits 60 Celsius & shut off when temps drop below 55 Celsius helping to reduce noise when the system is idling or under light load. Max Contact technology To get heat up off the die & into the heatsink array ASUS has engaged Max Contact technology to polish the surface of the heat spreader & improve smoothness at the microscopic level. The extra flatness allows for better contact with the die for enhanced thermal transfer. 2.9-slot design The heat spreader draws heat up into heatpipes that carry it through a fin stack that fills most of the card's large 2.9-slot footprint. TUF components Robust military-grade capacitors were selected for the card's power design. They & other components are soldered to the PCB using Auto-Extreme automated manufacturing process. Precise joints & the elimination of human error ensure each graphics card meets ASUS's rigorous specifications. To ensure flawless performance when it counts the cards are subjected to a grueling 144-hour validation trial. Armored underside The underside of the card reveals further improvements. Most of the rear is swathed in a protective metal backplate that prominently features a wide vent. The vent allows hot air to escape towards chassis exhaust fans instead of being recycled back into the GPU cooler. A GPU bracket provides extra stability to the critical connection between die & heat spreader. Stainless steel is used for the I/O bracket to protect ports & provide a more secure mount. Functional front The front-side RGB element can be customized to display a range of aesthetic & functional effects & also synced with other ASUS components to enable uniform lighting. To fulfill the power demands of the Radeon RX 6900 XT two 8-pin power connectors are present along with onboard LEDs that light up if PSU PCIe power connectors are not plug