ASUS GTX960 Strix Review

tinytomlogan

The Guvnor
Staff member
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We have two very different takes upon the GTX960, and first up is the ASUS Strix.

ASUS GTX960 Strix Review
 
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Is it just me or has this gotten way too much praise... You say

"In nearly every title the GTX960 comfortably outperforms the GTX750Ti, GTX760 and, more often than not, the GTX770."

It does indeed outperform the 750Ti in everything, much to be expected. But sometimes the 760 outperforms the 960 sometimes. I don't know about you, but I find this fact simply appalling. Performance (sometimes) went down after an entire generation? I don't see the 770 outperforming (or even getting close to) the 970, or the 780 to 980 the same. Why is the 960 seemingly gimped compared to those, and how/why is this acceptable or even good?

You also state the 960 more often than not outperforms the 770. There are only like 5 charts in the entire review it ties or beats the 770, out of 16, and not by much at all. How exactly does the 960 more often then not perform better than the 770 if this is the case?

I think the only impressive thing about this card (and the 960 as a whole from all the reviews I have seen so far) really is it's power usage. Which is pretty impressive indeed. I think because the 960 is a blend of the 750Ti (same memory controller etc) and a cut down 970.

If/When AMD counter with a price cut, I don't really see much reason for anyone to buy a 960 honestly.

Also. I don't know if you have noticed, but the PCB of the ASUS 960 actually has a 192 bit bus (6 memory locations with only 4 filled), its simply not used on the 960. Almost guaranteed that there will be a 960Ti soon which is what the 960 should have been originally.
 
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So what was expected to be a 200$ card became a 200BP card and is advertised in Greece for 280-290 Euros... Not worth it imho.
 
Seems like a fairly strong performer, and not overly hindered by having "just" 2gb vRam, at 1080p resolutions at least - at higher (1440p) resolutions the lack of pure GPU grunt is likely more of an issue than vRam I suspect.

However the price point is a little higher than I expected, creeping closer to the £200 mark than I'd like. At a £150-160 point this'd be a card to watch.

The problem, for me - and I'm aware I'm likely in a minority here - is that it does not appear to be SLI capable, meaning no "just add another" upgrade path nor being able to take on higher-end single GPU's at a similar overall price point.

Still, the power draw and over clocking potential are very impressive, the former maybe appealing to those with older kit who just want a GPU upgrade without the associated potential PSU costs of more power-hungry GPU's.

I fully suspect the price point to move a good £20-30 over the next month or so, putting it in a more attractive position for those after good, low-power performance in a budget gaming rig.

Scoob.
 
The problem, for me - and I'm aware I'm likely in a minority here - is that it does not appear to be SLI capable, meaning no "just add another" upgrade path nor being able to take on higher-end single GPU's at a similar overall price point.

Still, the power draw and over clocking potential are very impressive, the former maybe appealing to those with older kit who just want a GPU upgrade without the associated potential PSU costs of more power-hungry GPU's.

Scoob.

You can SLI them, from benchmarks around the web it seems to be on par with a 970 performance wise.
 
Interesting. I've seen a couple of images where there's no SLI tab present. As NV still use a bridge connector I assume this meant no SLI. Not read a great deal on this particular GPU though I admit.

Scoob.
 
Well executed nvidia, this is amazing in every way, power is lower than the 750Ti (how!?), size is smaller (how!?), the 6 pin socket in the right place :) I have a feeling this is going to become my next card.

Only Neg is the 2GB would have liked to have seen maybe 3 - 4GB but then the card would have to be longer. Still it's cool beans!
 
If U can wait, GTX 960 Ti ends up with 3GB and 192-bit bus.
I based ^this on that empty places for VRAM on 960's PCBs.
 
If U can wait, GTX 960 Ti ends up with 3GB and 192-bit bus.
I based ^this on that empty places for VRAM on 960's PCBs.
Waiting is not a problem.. cash how ever is :lol: although we do have more in the way of GPUs coming in Q2 this year from AMD who "promise" something special.
 
Good upgrade for people running cards from the 400/500 generation and want good performance and low power draw. I don't think people on a 760, hardly an old card, would seriously be considering getting one anyway. Don't worry about the polar bears Tom, China burns millions of tons of coal everyday.
 
Excellent review TOM :)
WOW Look at that Power draw numbers!! Amazing efficient card!!
For the 3D Mark 11 and Gaming (except Hitman, Metro) scores...Impressive!!
I want two GTX960 Strix please :p
Strix is MAGIC :D
 
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Although it should be mentioned that the 960 isn't exactly the sweetspot for MOBA gaming/free to play games or games like TF2 or CSGO (that are source based). The 750ti is the best way to go if you are planning to play that kind of games mostly. I mean, league of legends is a joke, it runs on intel HD smoothly.
Great card nonetheless (so far).
 
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