[media:49915]
ASUS South Africa was kind enough to send me the new, shiny, ASUS RoG OC RX580 Strix edition to put through its paces. This is the tech refresh equivalent of the RX480 RoG OC Strix graphics card I had reviewed previously. If you were to look at them side-by-side, you’d be hard-pressed to tell them apart. For more information about the AMD RX500-series, check out
It’s Slightly Smaller!
The ASUS RoG OC RX580 Strix Edition is slightly smaller than its predecessor by, like maybe 5mm, so this time I managed to squeeze this little monster into my chassis (barely!). Other than that, this card appears to be otherwise identical in looks and design. You’ve still got the gorgeous back-plate design with lighting, as well as the fans’ layout, that this card just screams power. It’s a bit on the flashy side for me, but if you like your RGB lighting, then you’re in for a treat!
[media:49883]
I got it to fit!!
Specifications
- Graphics Engine: RADEON RX 580
- Video Memory: 8GB GDDR5
- Engine Clock: 1360MHz (gaming) – 1380MHz (OC Mode)
- Memory Clock: 2000MHz x4 (8.0Gbps)
- Memory Interface: 256bit
- DirectX® Support: 12
- Bus: Standard PCIE 3.0
- Display Connectors: HDMI/ DisplayPort x2 / DVI
- Max Digital Resolution: 7680 x 4320
- Board dimensions: 29.8 x 13.4 x 4 cm
- Minimum power requirements: 500 watts
- External power requirement: 1x 8-pin PCIe Power connector
- Included Software: ASUS GPU Tweak II, Drivers, Aura lighting software, X-Split Gamecaster
- Warranty: 3 years
Observations
Without making any specific tweaks to overclocking, or running this card in “silent mode”, I’ve left the card in its stock “gaming” configuration. The card performed well, and only the fans became audible only under load, and then, I also had my chassis open which did aggravate the noise made. I will note that the “coil whine” which I experienced on this card’s predecessor was also still, unfortunately, present under the exact same conditions. I sadly can’t give performance ratings at 4K resolutions, as, well, I don’t have one (yet). I should really ask @sonz if he could score me one from the M-Cave…
Test conditions
My old Frankenstein PC hasn’t changed yet, and considering I was about to mount this card into my chassis, that didn’t even change! My PC specs are as follows:
- Processor: Intel i5 4690k
- Motherboard: Gigabyte Z97X U3DH
- Memory: 16GB Adata DDR3 1333 Memory (4×4 layout)
- Storage: Samsung Evo 840 SSD + 1TB Seagate Hybrid HDD
- Power Supply: Corsair HX-620 Modular PSU
- Display: 2x Dell U2412M
- Display drivers: Radeon Crimson 17.4.3
- OS: Windows 10 Pro 64-bit, version 1703 (Creators Update)
Gaming Benchmarks
I had a bit of a problem comparing my previous results from the RX480 Strix with this new, shinier edition, mainly to do with some slight changes in how I have made changes to the testing conditions for games. Therefore, I’m doing these tests in a vacuum, but I’ll be putting them in comparison to another test coming up real soon. However, I do have the synthetic tests which I can put side-by-side, so there you’ll have a direct comparison of this card, versus the previous edition Strix RX480
Synthetic Benchmarks
Gameplay impressions
As I didn’t have the exact card to compare with, my impression of this card is that it definitely plays more smoothly versus my reference RX480 card. It doesn’t necessarily feel “faster” but when taking dips into account, these feel less “jarring”.
This card performed noticeably better in the synthetic tests, which is definitely a good indicator that this bird is a worthy successor to its predecessor.
[media:49882]
Shiny… so shiny!
Conclusion
As much as this card is an improvement over its predecessor, the ASUS RX 580 OC Strix Gaming card doesn’t necessarily have the rush-out-and-buy appeal as did the original wave of AMD 400-series cards. This is mainly a tech refresh and update which delivers incremental improvement. Make no mistake – if you’re in the market for a new performance card, and didn’t initially pick something in the nVidia 10-series equivalent or otherwise something from AMD in the last year, then I’d happily recommend this card. It’s fast and stylish and gets the job done. If you’re into tweaking your equipment, then this is what you want.
My observations from the ASUS RX480 OC Strix still hold true with regards to noise and “coil-whine” under certain conditions, so this could be a factor; other than that, it’s still an excellent card.
You can pick up this card right now at
Chocs: Twitter / MWEB GameZone: Twitter | Facebook | YouTube
