Top positive review
5.0 out of 5 starsPerfect Fit! Upgrade Complete! Quiet, Cool, Smooth Graphics for the 2020s!
Reviewed in the United States on July 16, 2022
After 10 years, I finally decided to upgrade my Alienware Aurora-R4. I replaced its NVIDIA GeForce GTX 690 with EVGA's GeForce RTX 3090 XC3 ULTRA GAMING graphics card (24G-P5-3975-KR, 24GB GDDR6X, iCX3 Cooling, ARGB LED, Metal Backplate). Model 24G-P5-3975-KR was a a perfect fit since it is the smaller version of EVGA's GeForce RTX 3090 GPU cards measuring Height: 4.38 in - 111.15mm X Length: 11.23 in - 285.37mm X Width: 2.2 Slots. Furthermore, model 24G-P5-3975-KR only required two available 8-pin or 6+2pin PCIe power dongles whereas larger models required three available 8-pin or 6+2pin PCIe power dongles. My R4 setup had two 6+2pin PCIe power dongles connected to an 850 W power supply that has worked efficiently for the new 3090 card.
Physical installation was easy. Driver install was a snap. Registration at EVGA's support website was a breeze. The only downside was that I immediately noticed a couple millimeters of sag at the unsupported end of the new graphics card. The old 690 had a wedge/bracket support at the end its unsupported end. However, the old wedge/bracket support did not fit the 3090. But I made an easy fix. I measured 2" from the bottom of the card to the next base plate below the card in my R4 rig. So, I used a 2" long X 1/2" wide plastic screw that I found in my toolbox to stabilize the unsupported end of the 3090. It worked great as a pillar to level and stabilize the unsupported end of the 3090.
Right away I noticed huge improvements after essentially upgrading across six generations (690 to 3090) of GeForce GPUs. Graphic performance has been so smooth! I anticipated hotter temperatures and louder fan noise, but EVGA's GeForce RTX 3090 XC3 ULTRA GAMING card has operated so much more efficiently than the old 690 to keep the average temperature in my rig between 60c to 90c while humming along much more quietly even while playing graphic intensive games on ultra or very high settings.
If this 3090 holds up for the next 10 years like my 690 did, well that will just be icing on the cake!
