ASUS has overclocked their GTX 1050 Ti STRIX OC by a good amount, more than nearly every other manufacturer. As a result, the card gains 5-7 % in performance when averaged over our test suite, depending on resolution. Compared to the RX470, which is similarly priced, the STRIX is still roughly 25% behind in performance. A comparison to the RX 460 shows a performance advantage of over 25%, though. The GTX 1060 is 43% faster with even its 3 GB version. This means that you won't be able to play the latest AAA titles with maximum details at 1080p with the GTX 1050 Ti; rather, you have to make compromises and turn down details or stick to MOBA-type games since they usually don't have such demanding graphics.

Just like all other Pascal GPUs, power consumption of the GTX 1050 Ti is outstanding, showing NVIDIA's clear lead over AMD in this metric. Gaming power consumption is very modest even with ASUS's out-of-the-box overclock and modified board design, power draw still being well below 100 W, which will work well when it comes to upgrading older pre-built systems that usually come with weak power supplies. ASUS added an extra 6-pin power connector to their card (the reference design relies on PCIe bus power only). The card does regularly exceed 75 W power draw both in gaming and Furmark, so the additional 6-pin is not just for show.

The ASUS thermal solution does an excellent job at keeping the card cool and quiet, which is due to the GP107's incredible power efficiency and ASUS's well-tuned fan profile in BIOS. The cooler is good enough to provide almost inaudible gaming once the card is installed in a case, quieter than with any other GTX 1050 Ti we tested so far. The fans also include the idle-fan-off feature which stops the fans in idle and light gaming for a noise-free experience during Internet browsing and productivity. ASUS is also one of the very few manufacturers to include a backplate with their GTX 1050 Ti (Gigabyte is the other). While this is certainly a welcome addition, I'm not sure if it's a must for this market segment where every dollar counts.

You can find the ASUS GTX 1050 Ti STRIX OC online for around $177, which is $37 more than the cheapest GTX 1050 Ti variants you can find online, which are also overclocked, but lack a backplate and possibly come with a less powerful cooler. While the ASUS STRIX is an outstanding GTX 1050 Ti variant, it is simply too expensive. Its price pushes the card into a territory where the RX 470 is the better option due to higher performance at the same price point. The GTX 1050 Ti definitely has a much better power/heat/noise than the RX 470, especially with the great cooler by ASUS, but I'd lean toward RX 470 because performance trumps everything in this segment where every dollar counts. The Radeon R9 380 is completely obsolete now, with the spotlight being on the RX 470 and GTX 1050 Ti. Even at reference pricing of $140, I feel slightly tempted to recommend the RX 470 for its higher performance; with the prices of AAA games these days, the difference basically means skipping one game and spending that money on a better graphics card, which will bring you more joy in all the other games you play. Another option could be the GTX 1060 3 GB, which is slightly more expensive than the RX 470 (after its price drops), but offers a bit better performance, especially in older titles.