ASUS Radeon R9 Fury STRIX 4 GB

[W1zzard]

Today, AMD released their Radeon R9 Fury. Only two vendors are allowed to build designs for the Fury Non-X: ASUS and Sapphire. Today, we are reviewing the ASUS R9 Fury STRIX, which comes with a new large DirectCU thermal solution that keeps noise levels in check.

Show full review

 

[RejZoR]

I'm pretty confident you can bump up the operational temperature to 75°C and slightly lower the fans. If you throw in framerate limiting, temperatures should drop even further, meaning you can make it a lot quieter without really sacrificing any performance.

 

[Joss]

What's that horrible thing in page 5 photo #2, could that be thermal paste? it looks like scratched metal.

 

[HisDivineOrder]

Price is too high. If I were that close to a reference 980 Ti ($70ish), I'd go on and finish my way there and get something far more capable for 1440p or greater. Otherwise, I'd drop down to $500 or less (980, R9 390X) for 1080p.

AMD has a real problem with pricing.

 

[pat-roner]

@W1zzard, what other reviews of videocard are in the pipeline? Mainly wondering about Palit Super Jetstream 980 ti.
Thanks

 

[RejZoR]

What's that horrible thing in page 5 photo #2, could that be thermal paste? it looks like scratched metal.

View attachment 66393

There are soft metal thermal pads and I think this is one of them. Coollaboratory makes them...

Liquid MetalPad
http://www.coollaboratory.com/en/products/liquid-metalpad/

 

[Joss]

Liquid MetalPad
http://www.coollaboratory.com/en/products/liquid-metalpad/

Thanks, didn't know about that.

 

[HumanSmoke]

Nice review!

Hey, @Casecutter , that DC3 cooler looks pretty damn similar to the that found on the 980 Ti doesn't it?

 

[Lionheart]

Great review & seems to be a great card too. I might just pick one up.

Price is too high. If I were that close to a reference 980 Ti ($70ish), I'd go on and finish my way there and get something far more capable for 1440p or greater. Otherwise, I'd drop down to $500 or less (980, R9 390X) for 1080p.

AMD has a real problem with pricing.

Price is too high my ass! Keep dreaming.

 

[haswrong]

Price is too high. If I were that close to a reference 980 Ti ($70ish), I'd go on and finish my way there and get something far more capable for 1440p or greater. Otherwise, I'd drop down to $500 or less (980, R9 390X) for 1080p.

AMD has a real problem with pricing.

well, amd is in deep trouble, so it has to surface somewhere. like chaotic pricing model in their last spasmatic attmept to grab a market share and generate revenue.. i dont see as likely for anyone to buy a g-card with a heatsink larger than the g-card itself and zero oc potential.. now i have to wonder even more what exactly amd expect from the nano model..........

edit: oops, i thought the pcb was smaller, i skipped first few pages of the review ok.. the heatsink ISNT larger in length and width than the card/pcb.. ok, ok............ meh

 

[newtekie1]

Price is too high my ass! Keep dreaming.

20% higher price for 0-13% higher performance. Yeah, the price is a little high.

I think $50 more than a 980 would be reasonable, but not $100.

 

[Anymal]

just a moment, Strix is not stock Fury card, why do you compare it to stock geforce 980, Mr. Wizzard

 

[Deleted member 138597]

LOL that Far Cry 4 anomaly

 

[Deleted member 138597]

just a moment, Strix is not stock Fury card, why do you compare it to stock geforce 980, Mr. Wizzard

What then you want to compare with? AIBP cards? That would make it a huge variable for the test. I hope you know what I mean.

And also, if you mean to compare between 980 Strix and Fury strix, then it would be much of a cooler review, with a icing of GPU review

 

[Ferrum Master]

just a moment, Strix is not stock Fury card, why do you compare it to stock geforce 980, Mr. Wizzard

Troll alert....

The card is almost nice... the OC potential spoils.... completely...

 

[Xzibit]

just a moment, Strix is not stock Fury card, why do you compare it to stock geforce 980, Mr. Wizzard

I'm going to take the obvious guess and say because it uses stock clocks.

 

[Anymal]

I'm going to take the obvious guess and say because it uses stock clocks.

ok, OC on Sapphire Tri-X is 40mhz which makes it almost stock but if they compare also temperatures and noise, Fury Strix is no stock at all

Strix product if far from stock, believe me, so it is faster from stock 980, ehat about strix 980?

 

[newtekie1]

The disappointing thing with this card is the overclock potential. It is strange for ASUS to not release a Strix card, or any card with an aftermarket cooler, that is pre-overclocked. But I think this is just a sign of how how poor the overclock potential is with these cards.

ok, OC on Sapphire Tri-X is 40mhz which makes it almost stock but if they compare also temperatures and noise, Fury Strix is no stock at all

Strix product if far from stock, believe me, so it is faster from stock 980, ehat about strix 980?

I don't believe there is a "stock" Fury card. AMD didn't make a reference Fury card, they just left it up to the board partners to use the designe they wanted.

The closest we might see is one of them using the reference Fury X board with a Fury GPU stuck on it, but since the Fury X board/cards are all manufacturered by AMD and handed out to the partners for distribution, I don't even think that is very likely.

And since this card uses reference clocks, the performance will be the same as any "stock" Fury. Power consumption and temps will be difference, but performance is the important part.

 

[Deleted member 138597]

ok, OC on Sapphire Tri-X is 40mhz which makes it almost stock but if they compare also temperatures and noise, Fury Strix is no stock at all

Strix product if far from stock, believe me, so it is faster from stock 980, ehat about strix 980?

You mean you want to know stock Fury cooler's noise and temperatures?

Well, that ain't happening because like GTX 970, there will be no stock cooler from AMD.

 

[Anymal]

I am new on this site and now I see that he always compare 1 card to all other in stock/reference form, but when you write it is faster than Geforce 980 I think you should add "reference" or "stock"

 

[Casecutter]

Right about what I figured Fury would be. Though this Asus isn't great in lots of ways, their price is high, or they went super nice cooler, custom PCB with even solder pads to monitor voltage! But... if it can't offer OC'n (that's not Asus' fault, AMD going to have to reveal truthfully what's going to be happening on that front) these from Asus aren't going to fly off the shelf.

Honestly, if AMD now has some reason they can't OC these "spill-it" and then AIB could not have to invest this level of cooling and move down on price. Personally I would think AIB's can offer an extra 25-35mhz from a reference "petite" PCB and then work a much less extravagant cooler, that still can maintain under 1100Mhz (but sure some noise and heat). There’s buyers out there who’ll "get it" not for OC, though for its $530 price and they'd still move whatever they could deliver.

And there's the problem AMD isn't "going all in", or "over board" this round they intend to keep the channel with product, but not be caught burdened with any amount of SKU's at any level. They can't/don't want to indicate some Price-War, and know they aren't about to win back market share working it that way. Just hold course and stay lean, and at the ready.

 

[Anymal]

it would be great if Wizzard add at least one of AIB 980 cards in comparison

 

[ZoneDymo]

Great card imo, love the improved power consumption, also at that level I do have to find it way too close to call that in the negative portion in the conclusion tbh.

 

[ZoneDymo]

20% higher price for 0-13% higher performance. Yeah, the price is a little high.

I think $50 more than a 980 would be reasonable, but not $100.

Its $70....

 

[GhostRyder]

Supposedly the overclocking software's will soon give us voltage control which will hopefully let us overclock it a bit more at least.

Its odd this has no overclock at stock, but its a nice card and a nice cooler which seems to put it with its price at the right spot since its above the GTX 980 which is priced at 79 bucks lower. Asus tends to charge a bit more so hopefully the other guys will put some out with overclocks or at a lower price point!

 

[Fluffmeister]

it would be great if Wizzard add at least one of AIB 980 cards in comparison

I wouldn't get too hung up on that, we all know custom 980's fly like the wind so the cards ultimately trade blows game to game. Besides GM204 must be a cash cow compared to that humongous Fiji chip.

Still this card seems to be a far more compelling option compared to Fury X.

 

[RejZoR]

just a moment, Strix is not stock Fury card, why do you compare it to stock geforce 980, Mr. Wizzard

This. Strix is an aftermarket enthusiast series. Comparing it to stock reference models is silly. Strix R9 Fury should only be compared to Strix GTX 980 (despite the fact that R9 Fury is using cooler found on GTX 980Ti). Only this way it's apples vs apples.