It was all about Nvidia yesterday with the launch of the GTX 1060, but we can focus back on AMD today as Asus has unveiled its new ROG Strix RX 480 graphics card.
The stock flavor of the card will be clocked at 1266MHz in gaming mode with boost to 1286MHz in OC mode (and the O8G overclocked version will crank things up to 1310MHz with boost to 1330MHz).
You’ll also get 8GB of GDDR5 memory on board, a DVI-D port, DisplayPort 1.4, and a pair of HDMI 2.0 outputs – the latter means you can keep a monitor and a VR headset connected permanently, without having to mess around with cables whenever you fancy a trip into virtual reality.
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Premium build quality is promised, along with a snazzy cooling solution, as ever. Asus has employed its DirectCU III cooling tech boasting heatpipes which are in direct contact with the GPU to more efficiently dissipate heat, for a claimed 30% better cooling performance.
You also get a trio of fans with a wing-blade design which is supposed to facilitate maximum airflow, and is able to do so while keeping the noise down (Asus claims its fans are three times quieter than reference cards).
Asus also has another cooling innovation, FanConnect, which allows the graphics card to be linked to chassis fans, so that if the GPU is running hot, system fans can rev up further to help with cooling (normally only the case when the CPU gets hot).
Finally, for those who want to not just stay cool, but look cool as well, you get RGB lighting on the shroud of the card, and also the backplate. Millions of colors and six different effects jazz things up on the aesthetics front – although admittedly, that might not be to everyone’s tastes. We’re a sucker for a lit-up PC in a dark room, though.
The Asus Strix RX 480 is due out in the middle of August and will set you back £290 (around $380, AU$510).
Source: techradar.com
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$380 for a card that is base $240? How in the world can they justify the $140 premium? This was supposed to be an inexpensive mid range solution but this type of pricing sure defeats that strategy. Now, if this was 2 RX480s on one card… yea, that's just a dream.