At COMPUTEX 2014, Futurelooks had a chance to check out a new series of hardware and peripherals called STRIX. Unlike ROG, which is geared towards hardcore enthusiasts and overclockers, STRIX is more for the mainstream gamer looking for great performance, factory overclocks, low noise, as well as exceptional stability. The ASUS STRIX GTX 750 Ti OC Edition video card is not only factory overclocked, but ASUS says it can run perfectly silent when the GPU isn’t doing a lot of work, but still runs virtually silent when you are gaming.
Running an overclocked card without a fan? Are you nuts? We put it to the test.
Features and Specifications
The most important features are as follows, but keep in mind, most of them are shared across the entire series except for zero RPM cooling fans. Any STRIX GTX 750/750 Ti OC features a zero RPM feature which we touch on later at the end. However, the upper echelon GPUs can still handle heat, but do so without insane noise, which is one of the advantage of the STRIX series overall.
- 1202 MHz Boost Clock for nearly 7.7% faster performance.
- DirectCU II heat sink with 0 dB, or 0 RPM cooling yet can cool up to 58% better.
- Premium alloys which usually means greater efficiency and less heat.
- G-Sync support replaces V-sync creating an extremely smooth, detailed gaming experience.
- GPU Tweak gives users the option of overclocking their GPU..
- GPU Tweak Streaming is a new feature where users can stream their games live while they pwn others.
The table shows us where the STRIX version of the GTX 750 Ti fits in the grand scheme of things. In terms of features and pricing, it seems to fit both in and out of its “shelf space”. We’ll see this more clearly as we get along with the review and start putting some numbers down.
The ASUS STRIX GTX 750 Ti OC Edition has 2GB GDDR5 video memory which is a necessity these days for the latest games. Anything less would result in games loading and playing a lot slower, especially with higher resolutions.
As for the $150 US estimated price tag, it appears that it’s hitting the shelves for a just a bit more these days (around $165 – 175 US). And while it’s non STRIX brother, the vanilla Direct CU II edition, sells for $150’ish, we’ll just have to see if the extra coin is worth it.
What’s in the Box?
The ASUS STRIX GTX 750 Ti OC Edition doesn’t come with any accessories other than manual and DVD software disk. If you’re expecting a bundle game, you’ll have to jump to a GTX 770 or higher, to take advantage of any NVIDIA promos at the time of this writing. However, the software DVD has a working WHQL video card driver and GPU Tweak which is used to overclock or tune any NVIDIA based video card.
A Closer Look
The ASUS STRIX GTX 750 Ti OC Edition isn’t a very big card at all. It’s roughly the size of the reference card and surprisingly light. The card sports a dual fan, matte black GPU cooler. The design is such that the four strickers and shroud design make you think of an Owl, which is one of the brands hallmarks. While creative, the design doesn’t quite jump out and impress you like the ROG series, or even the basic Direct CU II series.
The GPU cooler consists primarily of standard aluminum with two nickle plated heat pipes running through the center. In fact, the GPU cooler is slightly longer than the PCB which should result in more than necessary cooling. The two fans are about 80 mm in size. While the specs aren’t listed, they’re most likely 40-45 CFM capable and the noise will be measured in testing.
Let’s set up the test system and test the STRIX!
Test System and Setup
For optimal results, I used the same test system from the MSI GTX 750 Ti review which better reflects where this card is targeted. We setup an Intel Core i5-3570K processor ($229), GIGABYTE GA-Z87X-UD4H motherboard ($185), Kingston HyperX Fury8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3 memory kit ($90), Western Digital 1TB Caviar Black hard drive ($70), and bequiet! 700 Watt PurePower 80Plus Bronze power supply ($75), to create an affordable but solid system. A Windows 7 Pro, fully patched and updated, is used to test all systems.
Despite the STRIX styled heatsink, there were no anomalies when installing into your standard PCI-Express slot. And since this is a GTX 750 Ti, there’s no PSU power cable required. At your option, you can install the GPU Tweak software, which we’ll get into next.
GPU Tweak and Overclocking the STRIX
Above, you can see ASUS’ GPU Tweak in all its updated glory. Those are stock frequencies, and although the STRIX series is geared towards mainstream gamers, it’s nice to know that enthusiasts can still poke around under the hood. Clicking the “settings” option in the main tab takes you in. Select the box that allows you to tweak the GPU voltage. Click apply and you’re ready to start overclocking.
With max voltage selected, and while applying incremental increases in clock speed, the ASUS STRIX GTX 750 Ti OC Edition reached a 1370 MHz Boost clock and 6162 MHz memory clock. Considering it’s already overclocked out of the box, that is quite good. GPU temps for the card were kept well under 80 C, and reached its max potential before temperatures ever became a problem. Not bad for a card geared towards mainstream users, rather than overclockers.
What about noise? Let’s cover that next.
Noise Levels and Temperature
The STRIX version of the ASUS Direct CU II cooler does a fantastic job of cooling the GPU, while remaining quiet. Temperatures rarely reached 60C unless overclocked at load, so the fans don’t spin nearly as high as previous heatsink designs. Here’s the simple version of what you can expect.
- Auto Mode + Desktop Browsing = 0 dB at 0 RPM (fans don’t spin)
- Auto Mode + Some Graphics = sub 16 dB
- Auto Mode + Gaming = 16 dB
- Auto Mode + Overclocked = sub 26 dB
- Manual Mode at 50% = 16 dB
- Manual Mode at 100% = 35 dB
The CPU cooler and PSU fan both created more noise than the ASUS STRIX GTX 750 Ti OC Edition. You would have to manually set the fan speed to 100% if you have a hankering for fan noise. In its default auto mode with or without GPU Tweak, you simply will not hear the STRIX. Personally, I recommend leaving it in auto mode – it’s literally silent which is what the STRIX series is all about.
Benchmark Notes
The benchmarks were kept simple. 3DMark 11, Crysis 3, Metro Last Light, Assassin’s Creed III, Battlefield 4 (Single Player), and Unigine Heaven Demo round off the suite. If you don’t have some of the titles to compare, Unigine is free to download. As is 3DMark 11.
3DMark 11
I’m not sure if we just got a gem of a card or what but it’s evident that the ASUS STRIX GTX 750 Ti OC Edition utterly dessimates the MSI GTX 750 Ti OC card. That extra high GPU and memory overclock make all the difference here. It also helps that the card uses a very competent cooling solution, allowing the GPU to stay at boost clocks longer.
Unigine Heaven Demo
Finishing off our synthetic benchmarks, this free benchmark doesn’t lie or pull punches with the GPU. The OC Edition frequencies make all the difference. However, if you increase sampling and the tessellation to extreme, you’ll see every card here cut in half. If extreme settings are important, step up to a ASUS STRIX GTX 770 OC.
Now let’s get into the gaming benchmarks.
Crysis 3
Despite Crytek’s recent financial crisis, Crysis is still one of the most punishing games to hit any GPU. This game is a bit much for any card that doesn’t have memory bandwidth and CUDA processing power. Still, the ASUS STRIX GTX 750 Ti OC Edition surprising gains a few frames at stock speeds and a max of 11 frames when overclocked.
Metro: Last Light
Again, bandwidth is still one of the GTX 750 Ti GPU’s limitations. The ASUS STRIX GTX 750 Ti OC Edition still manages to use its higher frequencies to make a noticeable improvements especially when overclocked.
Assassin’s Creed III
The ASUS STRIX GTX 750 Ti OC Edition is obviously quite playable in AC III. The game is relatively smooth and jitter free for about 95% of the custom benchmark.
Battlefield 4
BF4 really seemed to respond well to the ASUS STRIX GTX 750 Ti OC Edition. Whether stock or overclocked, the game is quite smooth. Keep in mind a good CPU helps this game along nicely as well.
Final Thoughts
The ASUS STRIX GTX 750 Ti OC Edition is a surprising video card. Clock for clock, it out paces most of the competition around. The STRIX card was extremely quiet whether gaming or working, which is too be expected seeing as the STRIX series of hardware and peripherals were designed specifically to be as quiet as possible, while maintaining excellent mainstream gaming performance. What we didn’t expect was when we overclocked even further, it responded well. Who would have thought that a card built to remain extremely quiet, could also remain well cooled, without the assistance of a massive and loud heat sink?
Ultimately, the STRIX GTX 750 Ti OC Edition is capable of providing decent 1080p frame rates on some of the latest games, and and makes fast action multi-player titles like Battlefield 4, fun to play. It’s done everything that the new STRIX brand name stands for. Mainstream gamers should be truly happy to have this new choice available on the market, aimed right at them.
The ASUS STRIX GTX 750 Ti OC Edition is priced just a few more dollars higher than its non-overclocked, non-STRIX siblings, but it offers so much more. How much more are we talking? Initial reports looks to be about the $165 – 175US price level, and we think that extra $10 – 15 is definitely well worth it, given the experience today. If you’re looking for a GTX 750 Ti level GPU today, then this would be our choice. An Editors’ Choice!
Pros
- Top GTX 750 Ti OC performance
- 1202 MHz factory overclock
- Impressive overclock of 1370 MHz GPU and 6160 MHz Memory
- Extremely quiet operation at load
- 0 dB noise when just using desktop
- No extra power required
Cons
- Bundle could use a few goodies
Overall Rating: 9.5/10
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