There are software BIOS mods, such as the ASUS XOC BIOS that relaxes software-level power limits, letting ASUS RTX 5090 cards pull "up to 2000 W" of power; and then there are hardware mods, using power shunts directly on the card, which bypass hardware-level power limits. Der8auer discovered something in the middle for the ROG Matrix RTX 5090. This card has two ways you can power it—a conventional 12V-2x6 power connector on the top, and a detachable BTF (GC-HPWR) gold-finger that lets you pair the card with ASUS BTF motherboards that have a power delivery slot along the PEG x16 slot. ASUS made the BTF gold finger on the ROG Matrix RTX 5090 detachable so you can use the card on regular, non-BTF motherboards.

Der8auer learned that by shorting a few sense pins in the BTF gold finger while the card is connected to a 12V-2x6 power source raises the power limit drawn from the connector to 750 W, a 150 W increase over the 600 W (continuous) design limit of the connector. This 750 W isn't exactly an "excursion," because the increased power draw isn't happening within the power spike intervals defined in the PCIe 5.1 CEM specification, but rather, lengthier periods of continuous power draw above 600 W. There are, of course, a couple of catches. You'll need a PSU with fairly high power output and +12 V rail(s) connected to the 12V-2x6, a durable connector, and because the BTF gold finger is being modified, not only is the power source a 12V-2x6 connector, but also the card isn't directly slotted into the PCI-Express x16 slot, rather a PCIe Gen 5-capable riser cable is needed. At this point we don't know if the mod works with other ASUS RTX 5090 BTF cards, such as the ROG Astral RTX 5090 BTF.

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