Most enthusiasts have probably considered the effect that heavy components will have on a motherboard, especially when it comes to moving a PC. Whether it’s an oversized CPU cooler or a 12in graphics card, these weighty components can put a significant amount of pressure on a motherboard. This is especially true since there are normally only a few small screws holding everything in place. A heavy-enough knock could easily cause serious damage to some very expensive components.
Jack me up
The PowerJack looks to remedy this by supporting the graphics card and taking some of the weight off of the motherboard. The jack can be extended from 61.25mm to a maximum height of 150mm, meaning it should work with E-ATX, ATX and mATX motherboards in full-, mid- and mini-tower cases. Unfortunately, it doesn’t seem like it would be much use for the top cards in a multi-GPU set-up.
With top-end graphics cards getting both longer and heavier, it only takes a bit of simple physics to figure out that they could put a lot of pressure on a motherboard. The PowerJack seems to be a smart and simple solution to the problem and could provide peace of mind for anyone who has just dropped a small fortune on a new motherboard or graphics card. There’s no indication on price or availability just yet, but we wouldn’t be surprised to see these as a pack in for PowerColor’s high-end cards, as well as at retail, in the near future.
Take a look at a PowerColor-produced video, below.
