Graphics card with SSD? Why not. A few weeks ago, ASUS introduced a special graphics card concept that added an unusual component, an M.2 connector for installing an SSD drive. And here we have it, the GeForce RTX 4060 Ti 8GB DUAL OC, which is already on sale at some European retailers.

This isn’t the first time an attempt has been made to add graphics chips to memory chips, and AMD proposed something similar a long time ago for its professional RadeonPro SSG graphics card, but it never made it to market. ASUS dared to do this with the card for high consumption, although it is worth clarifying that the SSD mounted on the graphics card does not bring it any benefit in terms of performance, but rather using components that add more flexibility when building a PC.

If you follow us regularly, you will know that the RTX 4060 series does not take full advantage of the PCIe interface. All cards based on the AD106 and AD107 GPUs are physically designed to use full slots, but can only use 8 of the 16 available lanes. The remaining tracks remain electrically disconnected. It was these additional stripes that ASUS used for your SSD graphics.

The final version of the card comes with minor changes compared to the initial announcement. Specifically, the plastic cover (adapter) for connecting the SSD to the backplate is now attached. However, the PCB design remains unchanged and the basic idea remains the same, taking advantage of the GPU cooler to improve the thermal performance of the SSD, which as you know gets quite hot. The design also offers easier access to install an SSD into the M.2 connector.

Otherwise, it is an 8 GB RTX 4060 Ti, overclocked and with two large fans. The price from the sellers who listed it is 559 euros in Europe 90 euros more than the standard ASUS model with the same chip, although we really don’t know the official one that ASUS will set.

We’ll see if other manufacturers also ‘dare’ to this type of designs, which are at least novel in their concept and can use all lanes of the PCI 4.0 interface where the card is inserted. There may be use cases where this is interesting, increasing the flexibility of component assembly. Are you attracted to this graphic design with SSD?