A massive prototype cooler for an unreleased AMD Radeon RX 7000 GPU has recently surfaced, giving enthusiasts a glimpse of what could have been a serious competitor to NVIDIA’s RTX 4090. Spotted by a forum member at Quasarzone, the cooler was purchased from a Chinese marketplace and, at first, seemed like just another prototype. However, upon closer inspection, it revealed itself to be a rather special design, likely destined for a higher-end Radeon GPU that never saw the light of day.
The cooler’s most striking feature is its large, triple-slot design, which is significantly thicker than the reference Radeon RX 7900 XTX cooler.
Not only does it offer increased thickness, but it also sports a unique triple 8-pin connector setup, which is one more than the two connectors found on the top-tier 7900 XTX. The new design hints that AMD might have been preparing a heavily overclocked or more power-hungry version of the RDNA 3 architecture, possibly aiming to challenge the high-performance NVIDIA cards like the RTX 4090.
The design also includes changes in LED positioning and a noticeable increase in the overall length, stretching to 33cm compared to the 29cm length of the RX 7900 XTX reference card. This extended size, combined with a copper-based heatsink and a larger GPU baseplate, suggests that AMD was gearing up to push the limits of power and performance with this GPU.
Rumors from the time of the RDNA 3 launch mentioned potential RX 7950 XTX and RX 7990 XTX models, which could have been paired with this cooler. Despite such speculation, AMD never pursued a direct RTX 4090 competitor, citing high power consumption and cost as key barriers. The cooler’s design raises the question: was this part of a failed attempt to create a flagship product that would have reshaped the GPU market?
GPU prototypes, like the one uncovered here, are not uncommon. Manufacturers often create multiple designs and revisions before settling on a final product. Similar prototypes from NVIDIA, such as those for the RTX 4090 Ti, were also scrapped, showing how speculative and fluid the development process can be. This cooler’s large form factor is a reminder of how much effort goes into testing and revising designs before they are finalized for retail release.